This follows a one-day public sector strike and demonstrations the previous week. Black and white public sector workers joined the demonstration. They were united in protesting the government's 6 percent pay offer, which amounts to a 4 percent pay cut when set against the rate of inflation. Although the pay claim is part of the regular annual round of negotiations it has taken on a more significant character as the government attempts to cut public spending. The government admits that they intend to slash 35,000 jobs in the civil service alone.
Economists estimate that the real figure is much higher.
Some propose that the present level of public spending, at over 30 percent of GDP, needs to be cut to 10 percent. This week more negotiations resulted in the government offering a derisory 0.15 percent increase on their original offer, which the unions were forced to reject, saying they would go back to their members for a further mandate. Last month rail workers at Spoornet protested at a proposed restructuring plan that will destroy from 18,000 to 30,000 out of a total of 60,000 jobs. The state funded rail company is taking this drastic action because it has recorded heavy losses that the government will not underwrite. Strikes also took place in the private sector, including 85,000 textile workers and Volkswagen car workers.