Reuters cited Toyota Motor Corp as saying that it had been forced to shut its South African car factory for four days because of an illegal pay strike, the first sign of wildcat mine stoppages spreading into other parts of Africa's biggest economy.

Trade union leaders at the Japanese car giant's Durban plant said workers would return on Friday after winning a 5.4% pay rise inspired in part by a hefty increase won last month by strikers at Lonmin's Marikana platinum mine.

Mr Mbuso Ngubane of the National Union of Metalworkers of South Africa said that "The circumstances are not the same as what is happening in the mines. But it does send a message. It does have an impact to some extent on other workers getting agitated."

After 2 months of unrest, at least 75,000 miners, or 15 percent of the sector's workforce, are on strike, compounding already sluggish growth just 3 months before an internal leadership vote in the ruling African National Congress.

Mr Jacob Zuma president of South Africa is the favourite to win re-election, teeing him up for a second five year term in 2014, but the turbulence strengthens the hand of those who say he is unfit to run a sophisticated emerging economy. He has been criticized for his relatively low key response to the crisis including the August 16th police killing of 34 strikers at Marikana the bloodiest police action in the post-apartheid era.

He said that "We should not seek to portray ourselves as a nation that is perpetually fighting. Some may become pessimistic when tragic incidents such as Marikana take place. There's no reason to be despondent. We have the capacity to overcome difficulties when we work together as South Africans."

A union official said that wildcat industrial action at the world's top platinum producer, Anglo American Platinum, spread from its 4 mines near Rustenburg, 120 kilometer northwest of Johannesburg, to 3 mines 100 kilometer further north.

Source - Reuters

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