THOUSANDS of public-sector workers in South Africa have staged a nationwide strike to demand better wages.

Tuesday’s national day of action followed the collapse of wage negotiations between trade unions and the government.

The 3 per cent pay increase offered by the government falls far short of the union demand of a 10 per cent rise to keep pace with the rising cost of living in South Africa. 

The dispute between the government and its employees piles pressure on President Cyril Ramaphosa as he seeks re-election as leader of the ruling African National Congress (ANC) at a conference next month.

Seven unions, representing some 800,000 public servants, including workers in hospitals, schools and police stations, marched in eight of the country’s provinces. 

Last week, union members vowed that there would be picket lines and demonstrations outside hospitals, ports and government offices in a “show of force.”

In a joint statement, the unions said: “The government wants public servants to be at peace with less than inflation increases. This cannot stand.”

Inflation in South Africa stood at 7.5 per cent in September, down from a peak of 7.8 per cent in July.

Last week, in an attempt to avert the strike, the government made a final offer of an effective 7.5 per cent wage increase, comprising 3 per cent pensionable and 4.5 per cent non-pensionable funds. 

Speaking to local television channel eNCA news at a march in Pretoria on Tuesday, December Mavuso, deputy secretary general of the National Education Health and Allied Workers Union, said the unions were open to negotiating “as long as workers receive an inflation-related increase so that the value of their pay packets is not eroded by inflation.

“Three per cent is really next to nothing, so that’s why we want an improvement to the offer and the government must come back to the negotiations so that we settle this dispute properly,” Mr Mavuso added.

The unions do not believe that the government cannot afford the increases, he added.

Mr Mavuso said: “There is money. We don’t believe that there is no money. But the neoliberal programme of austerity that is implemented by the government is creating problems.”

President Ramaphosa, who also faces accusations that he attempted to cover up a multimillion-dollar cash theft at his farmhouse, is seeking a second term at the helm of the ANC and as the country’s leader.