South African council workers to consider pay offer

JOHANNESBURG – Leaders of thousands of striking South African council workers were due to meet yesterday to consider a new pay offer in a dispute that has disrupted local government services and put pressure on President Jacob Zuma.

The three-day-old strike is the latest stand-off between Zuma and the unions who helped sweep him to power in an April election and now want the president to fulfil his promises to help lift the living standards of the poor.South Africa is suffering its first recession since 1992 which unions say has hit the country’s poor hardest. Unemployment is rising with over four million South Africans without jobs, according to official data.Economists believe the higher-than-inflation wage settlements reached in a number of sectors this month could strain Africa’s biggest economy further down the road.The country, already facing a shortfall in tax revenue due to the economic crisis, may be forced to increase taxes and the wage settlements could fuel inflation, which currently stands at 6,9 per cent annually.South Africa’s economy may also lag other global economies in recovering from the global financial crisis.Shortly after appointing a new police chief, tasked with tackling one of the world’s highest crime rates ahead of the 2010 soccer World Cup, Zuma warned against any unlawful action during strikes, saying he would crack down on workers who overturn trash cans, littering streets.’I feel it is important that they should be arrested because they are interfering with the rights of innocent citizens, who are walking around. I have been told there is a law and the law should apply,’ he told a news conference.- Nampa-Reuters