Thousand of South African public sector workers continued their strike on Thursday in Johannesburg to demand wage increases, after rejecting a new remuneration offer of the government.
    Earlier, the SA Government had called on negotiators to find a way out of the stoppage that has paralized schools and hospitals.
    In a very heated environment and to the fast pace of plastic trumpets known as vuvuzelas, unemployed workers marched through the main streets of Johannesburg, shouting slogans demanding their rights.
    The strike, organized by the Congress of South African Trade Unions (COSATU), has continued for more than two weeks and involves more than a million public sector workers, including those in health and education.
    Government authorities are concerned that basic health services as well as schools are paralyzed as a result of the strike, and expressed their willingness to continue negotiations with the protesters.
    According to Zwelinzima Vavi, general secretary of COSATU, which includes 20 affiliated unions, the organization rejected a new offer of the Government, which proposed a wage increase of 7.5 percent for public employees, instead of the 8.6 percent demanded.
    The unions of state workers, including teachers, nurses, customs agents and secretaries, did not accept the offer of the Executive to pay a housing assistance of about US $108, and instead demand more than $130.
    COSATU has threatened to extend the strike to the mining sector, and South African President Jacob Zuma promised to involve ministers in the negotiations to find a rapid solution to the ongoing conflict.