Strike in South Africa expands

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JOHANNESBURG -- Government and industry are bracing for the worst industrial action in South African history as private-sector unions prepare to join government workers on strike.

The general strike, in its second week, has shut down most state schools and hospitals. Ambulance crews in Johannesburg say several patients have died in transit because no health facilities were open to accept them.

Police unions, legally barred from striking, have said they may take industrial action to support the workers. Courts have closed across the nation.

The Congress of South African Trade Unions (COSATU) has lowered its demanded wage rise from 12 percent and says it would accept a 10 percent increase for state employees. The government has offered 7.5 percent, slightly above the rate of inflation.

Some analysts think the strike -- which is expected to put 2 million people on the streets tomorrow -- has less to do with wages than with COSATU's flexing its political muscle.

By the end of this year, the ruling African National Congress must choose a successor to President Thabo Mbeki, now serving the last of his two terms allowed by the constitution, and unions have made clear that they want a say in choosing the next head of state.

In secret negotiations between the parties, the government has agreed to look at salary structures, health insurance and other benefits, but COSATU Secretary-General Zwelinzima Vavi said the offer was unlikely to avert the nationwide shutdown.

In a speech yesterday, Mr. Vavi argued that many people had been abandoned by economic growth that accelerated to its fastest rate in decades.

"Unemployment still runs close to 40 percent, and the majority of households remain under the poverty line," he said. "Some 54 percent of all people employed in the formal economy still earn less than [$345] a month and just over 16 percent earn less than [$70].

"Virtually all employment creation in the past five years has occurred in the informal sector, construction and retail. These jobs are generally casual and poorly paid," he said.