On Tuesday the petrol attendants’ labour action completed its ninth day since it started, after talks between the unions representing workers and management to resolve the strike fell apart.

Castro Ngobese, the media relations person at the National Union of Mineworkers (NUM), said talks with management failed to produce a sound outcome on Monday night.

“The talks collapsed last night. The strike is continuing,” Ngobese told Sapa on Tuesday.

According to Sapa, a petrol station worker was wounded in a battle said to be connected to the labour action, in New Germany, KwaZulu-Natal.

“The man, who is believed to have been working in plain clothes, is believed to have been involved in an altercation with an unknown party…,” ER24 spokeswoman Vanessa Jackson told Sapa.

The man was admitted to a local hospital with a terrible head wound.

According to Sapa, bystanders said that the attack could have been connected to the strike by Numsa members.

Meanwhile at the weekend, NUM denounced fighting which has blemished its strike in the fuel and motor sectors.

This followed the killing of a petrol station worker.

A Somali worker was killed after striking workers allegedly attacked him last week.