There are signs that international container traffic is now being affected by South Africa's nationwide truckers strike as several ocean carriers, including Safmarine, have cancelled all deliveries to, and pick-ups from, the City Deep inland container depot in Johannesburg.

In a customer notice to its customers, one of Africa's largest liner shipping companies said: 'We have cancelled all export and import deliveries from City Deep. The situation will be monitored carefully and deliveries will only resume when it is safe to do so.'

City Deep is a major staging post for imports/exports arriving from/departing to Durban by rail from Johannesburg and its surrounding environs, including Pretoria. It is one of the biggest commercial/manufacturing regions in the whole of Africa and accounts for a sizeable portion of Durban's more than 2.7 million annualised container throughput volumes.

Currently, approximately 10 container trains are run a day to/from the facility and Durban.

Elsewhere, Safmarine stressed that it was 'business as usual' with cargo flows into/out of the ports of Durban, Cape Town and Port Elizabeth unaffected.

'However, there is a planned march in Durban today and we will advise you (the customer) if there is any change to above status.'

The dispute, which is mainly over salaries and associated allowance is between the employers' organisation - the Road Freight Employers' Association (RFEA) - and four unions; the South African Allied Transport Worker's Union, the Motor Transport Workers Union and the Professional Transport Workers' Union.