Blast halts production at MBSA
Disruption in supply of C Class components
THE top employer in East London, Mercedes-Benz South Africa (MBSA), has shut down the production line for its popular C Class sedan due to a critical shortage of components after three of their largest suppliers were put out of action by the huge explosion at the Industrial Development Zone on Tuesday night.
A total of 1 500 workers at the MBSA plant’s production shop have been told to stay at home until further notice. It is not clear when the production will resume.
The giant car manufacturer is supplied with front and rear carpets, wheel arch liners and boot trim packages, said MBSA spokesman Asanda Fongqo.
The Dispatch understands the suppliers involved are Feltex Automotive Trim, Feltex IAC and Feltex Caravelle.
More than 400 C Class models are manufactured per day at the West Bank Plant. Tuesday’s costly explosion, which has collapsed the production of the luxury cars, also left 12 employees of Feltex with injuries. The blast sent tremors across large parts of East London and caused panic.
The bodies of the MBSA cars are put together at the plant’s body shop before going to the paint shop to be painted in different colours. The assembly shop, where the cars are fitted with components, is where the problem is, as parts are not available.
Fongqo said: “Normal production will resume after a comprehensive assessment with all relevant stakeholders.”
Addressing concerns that wages and salaries of the workers could be affected by the stoppage, Fongqo said: “We have a collective labour agreement that makes provision for such eventualities.”
He said the company had met with shop stewards of the National Union of Metalworkers of South Africa and reached an agreement. Fongqo declined to disclose the number of cars produced per day.
The Dispatch managed to get the names of all the victims of the explosion, and spoke to a few of them. A worker from NU8 said she would have to go to St Dominic’s Hospital today for a check-up. She suffered head and neck injuries after skylights collapsed on her head during the blast.
Speaking from her bed, the worker said: “My neck and head are sore and the whole situation has left me traumatised. When I get all the flashbacks, I get emotional.
“My colleague, who was with me at St Dominic’s, got burnt on his buttock and back due to the acid, while another woman’s left arm is disfigured due to the acid.”
Feltex plant manager Graeme Young arranged a telephone interview with the Dispatch only to slam the newspaper for publishing “false” information about the blast.
An angry Young told the Dispatch to retract yesterday’s front page article or face a lawsuit.
He declined to say what was wrong with the report and referred the newspaper to the head office, but it was already after business hours. —