South African workers suspend strike

Pretoria: South African public sector workers suspended a damaging pay strike on Monday as it entered its fourth week, union officials said.

The strike by 1.3 million workers hit schools, state hospitals and the judiciary. Strikers have demanded a double inflation 8.6 per cent pay rise and a 1,000 rand (Dh495) a month housing allowance.

"Labour has decided to suspend the strike and this does not mean we have accepted the state offer," nineteen unions representing the state workers said in a joint statement.

The unions said they had 21 days to finalise discussions with their members on a draft agreement.

The South African government had no immediate comment. Public Service and Administration Minister Richard Baloyi was to issue a statement yesterday, his spokesman Dumisani Nkwamba said.

Workers were expected to return to work on Tuesday.

"We suspended the strike immediately, we expect workers to go back to work immediately and that means tomorrow," said Chris Klopper of the Independent Labour Caucus.

Analysts said the suspension of the strike was positive but the labour action highlighted tensions between the powerful COSATU labour federation, which is in an alliance with the ruling African National Congress and the South African Communist Party.

"It is certainly positive but there is continuous strain among the alliance partners. The important thing here is that people are going back to work because the damage to the economy has been quite severe," said Noelani King Conradie, economist at NKC Independent Economists.

President Jacob Zuma's government raised its offer to 7.5 per cent and 800 rand for the housing allowance last week but workers rejected the deal and unions asked for more time to explain the offer to their members.

Government officials said the state could not afford the offer they had already put on the table and there was no more room in the budget to increase the offer, which would swell state spending by about 1 per cent.

The biggest strike since 2007 in terms of lost man days has left bonds, stocks and the rand largely unaffected.

Economists said the labour action has cost the economy about 1 billion rand a day.