"They had been engaged in the process from 18 months to two years of discussion with government and management and now, suddenly, they present memoranda and say you have got 14 days to come to an agreement with our demands otherwise we are going to go out on strike, " Ian Phillips, a special adviser to Public Enterprises Minister Jeff Radebe, told the BBC's World Business Report.

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But I lived in a pit village and I knew many of the people that were on strike and I knew the way these people had to go out at night to gather waste coal just to keep their houses warm over the winter of '84-'85 and the impact that had on people.

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But the business model of the cruise industry is: Strike up the band and hand out the daiquiris, the cruise must go on.

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