Thousands of South African government workers took part in nationwide demonstrations on Tuesday (Nov 22) to demand a 10% increase in their salaries.
Negotiations between public sector unions and the government are deadlocked. The government is resolved to unilaterally implement a 3% pay hike, which hasn’t satisfied the unions.
In Pretoria workers downed tools and marched to the offices of the national treasury to submit their demands.
Employment minister Thulas Nxesi, a former trade unionist, was booed by workers as he arrived to receive the memorandum of demands.
This was a second round of demonstrations after the Public Service Association, which represents over 200,000 public servants, initially declared a dispute with the government.
