by Geoffrey Bennett

After South African teachers, nurses, and other civil servants walked off the job, power workers are now threatening to do the same.

So far, the strike has shut down schools and hospitals across the country and cost the economy billions in South African Rand. Workers are demanding a ten percent pay raise.

 

Public service unions accuse President Thabo Mbeki's African National Congress government of being too cozy with business interests. The government argues that a 10 percent pay raise could cause more trouble for the South African economy than the strike already has.