Panic-buying as S African petrol wage talks resume

JOHANNESBURG, Aug 4 (Reuters) A six-day-old strike by South African fuel workers caused petrol shortages and panic-buying today when wage talks resumed.

Motorists were queuing up to 30 minutes to fill up at the few petrol stations that had not run dry.

''I was worried, one of my friends told me there was fuel here and I came,'' Siyakhu, a motorist filling up at one petrol station, told Reuters.

''We used to say that it is in Zimbabwe they don't have petrol, now it is happening here,'' said one taxi driver.

The petrol sector labour union and the National Petroleum Employers Association resumed talks today and the union said it was hopeful a deal could be reached.

''The talks have already started, no deal has been signed yet but we are very optimistic that employers will bring an offer that is acceptable so that the strike ends today,'' Pasco Dyani, national president of the Chemical, Energy, Paper, Printing, Wood, and Allied Workers' Union, told Reuters.

Employers offered wage increases ranging from 6.5 to 8 percent while the union demanded a 10 per cent increase.

''8.5 per cent is a serious compromise, it will be difficult to sell it to our members, but we are prepared to take that risk and accept the offer for the sake of the nation,'' Dyani said.

Labour unions across a number of sectors have been demanding above-inflation wage increases in Africa's biggest economy.

Reuters PY RN1526