Government offers 7.5%

A new wage offer was tabled to 1.3 million public servants on Tuesday, which the government hoped would bring an end to their crippling two-week strike.

"A negotiated draft settlement offer stands as follows -- a 7.5 percent salary increment and R800 monthly housing allowance," Dumisani Nkwamba, spokesman for Public Service and Administration Minister Richard Baloyi, said in a statement.

Asked if this meant the strike was at its end, he replied: "We hope so. The unions are consulting with their members and the government has called on them to expedite the process."

A feedback meeting was scheduled for Wednesday, after which Baloyi would address the media.

On his return from a state visit to China, President Jacob Zuma instructed Baloyi to return to the negotiating table on Monday morning, expressing concern that the strike was affecting mostly poor people.

The new offer came after talks with unions, represented by the Congress of SA Trade Unions (Cosatu) and the Independent Labour Caucus (ILC), continued late into the night.

Public Servants' Association (PSA) spokesman Manie de Clercq said this was an offer that could be taken back to their members. "We will definitely take that to our members... we want to speed  this up. We don't want to wait another two weeks," he said.