Durban - South Durban spent yesterday absorbing the news that the SA Petroleum Refineries (Sapref) – a lifeline for many – would freeze production, possibly ahead of a sale.
“Right now everyone is just shocked,” Pastor Donovan Anderson of the Apostolic Faith Mission Church in Wentworth told the Independent on Saturday.
“This weekend they will feel the impact.”
The area already suffers 60 to 65% unemployment.
Anderson said many people had been waiting for Sapref’s two- to three-month shutdown next month when they had job opportunities.
“All the guys were geared up and excited for it. They had been inducted and undergone their medicals.
“One or two guys had come up from Cape Town with their families.”
Marlin Pottier, who does pipe building and welding on such jobs, said the shutdown meant working more and for longer hours but for more money “at industrial rates”.
“Now I’ll have to find another way to fill that gap,” he said.
A joint statement by Shell and BP said the freeze and pause of refinery operations at Sapref would kick in no later than the end of March and that “the decision to pause refinery operations currently has no impact on full-time employees”.
It also suggested the possibility of the installation being bought.
They could not be reached for comment on the planned freeze.
Pottier said Sapref’s last shutdown was in 2019 and that they usually happened every three years.
Fairvale Secondary School principal Dale Seidle said the news that broke on Thursday night made yesterday “a sad day”.
“Sapref has provided bursaries for pupils in Grade 10 to 12. A current pupil is also going to tertiary on a Sapref bursary,” he said.
Seidle added that up until two weeks ago, his school had been in contact with the company about further bursaries.
“They said if by February 28 they had not received bursaries, they will be unsuccessful. Are these obligations going to be met?” he wondered.
Seidle also said the news had come “like a bolt out of the blue” and called on Sapref to come up with some home truths about exactly what had brought about its decision.
“Was it economic? Was it political? Was it due to labour laws? What led them to taking such a drastic step?” he asked.
“I hope for more engagement.”
The South Durban Community Environmental Alliance said the Sapref installation had had a litany of problems.
The Independent on Saturday