Published: 26 August 2013

Strikes that have shut plants owned by Toyota Motor Corp and General Motors Co in South Africa may spread to gold mines and construction companies, threatening more than 10 percent of the economy's output.

Two labor unions representing gold mining workers said yesterday their members may vote to strike after wage talks with producers such as AngloGold Ashanti Ltd stalled. A walkout by about 90,000 construction workers from Aug. 26 is set to affect building at Eskom Holdings SOC Ltd.'s two power plants.

South Africa has been wracked by labor turmoil since last year, disrupting production at gold and platinum mines and undermining growth in Africa's biggest economy.

Workers at carmakers including Toyota, Bayerische Motoren Werke AG and Volkswagen AG are on strike for a fifth day to demand a 14 percent increase in wages, more than double the 6.3 percent inflation rate. The stoppages are costing the industry 700 million rand ($68 million) a day in lost output, according to an industry group.

Unions representing gold miners rejected the latest offer from employers to raise the pay of some categories of workers' wages by 6 percent. The National Union of Mineworkers, which represents 64 percent of workers in the industry, is seeking a 60 percent increase for entry-level jobs. Strikes could cost 349 million rand a day in lost output, according to the Chamber of Mines.

The volume of shares traded in Johannesburg was more than 11 times the three-month daily average.

- Bloomberg