No Quick Fix: When Strikes Become Violent

SA Container Depots (Pty) Ltd t/a Bidvest SACD v Sheriff Durban Coastal– why violent strikes still enjoy protection.

Earlier this year the Labour Court heard an urgent application brought by SA Container Depots (SACD), a freight-handling company that operates, among other sites, at the Port of Durban. SACD asked the Court for two forms of relief. First, it wanted the strike that had erupted at its premises to be declared unprotected because it had descended into violence. Failing that, it sought an interdict to restrain the violent conduct.

How the dispute arose

In 2024 SACD undertook a large-scale retrenchment, facilitated by a CCMA commissioner. Once the process ended, the company issued termination notices to roughly one hundred employees, most of whom belonged to the National Union of Metalworkers of South Africa (NUMSA). NUMSA responded by calling a strike in terms of section 198A(8)(b)(ii) of the Labour Relations Act (LRA) and demanded that all