Workers mount show of force in South Africa strike

Thousands of South African workers marched on Wednesday in sympathy with striking civil servants in a show of force that highlighted the divide between the ruling African National Congress and its trade union allies.
Downtown Johannesburg came to a standstill as about 15,000 union supporters chanted slogans denouncing President Thabo Mbeki's government, reflecting anger over economic policies that critics say have left South Africa's poor majority behind.
Marchers thronged the streets of other major cities, including Cape Town, media said. Many belonged to the powerful Congress of South African Trade Unions (COSATU), allied with the ANC and the South African Communist Party.
Political analysts say the public service strike, which began on June 1, has turned into a demonstration of workers' power ahead of a leadership congress this year that could see the ANC name a successor to Mbeki. But the deadlock has hit the delivery of essential services, and some South Africans say loved ones have died as a result of problems in hospitals and other key facilities. The strike has caused chaos in hospitals, schools and public offices.
Union leaders had promised to shut South Africa down on Wednesday, but turnout was uneven. Activity in Durban, home to the country's largest port, was virtually halted as buses and taxis stopped operating, but South Africa's economic capital Johannesburg was largely unscathed, with public transportation widely available.
The sympathy strike came as Mbeki opens the World Economic Forum in Cape Town, a global meeting of political and business leaders gathered to discuss Africa's prospects.
As protest songs from members of the powerful police and prison workers' union reverberated in the forum conference hall, some analysts said the sight of Africa's largest economy beset by labour problems could prove unnerving. Mbeki's government said police and army personnel, thousands of whom have been deployed to keep state schools and hospitals open, would respond to any violence or intimidation by strikers.
Workers in essential services, such as police, healthcare and emergency services, are barred from joining the strike, and some COSATU unions, including the influential National Union of Mineworkers, did not join the boycott.
Many did, however, including those representing municipal workers. Mounds of refuse lay in city centres as garbage collectors stayed off the job. The government confirmed on Wednesday it was accepting a mediator's proposal that it raise its wage increase offer for public servants to 7.25 percent from an original 6.5 percent.