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Johannesburg - Public service unions on Wednesday sternly warned the government not to unilaterally implement the wage offer after the Public Service and Administration Minister
Richard Baloyi threatened to "sign the final offer".
Unions affiliated to the Congress of South African Trade Unions (Cosatu) and the Independent Labour Caucus (ILC) on Thursday rejected government's latest wage offer, paving the way for the strike that began on Wednesday.
These unions jointly account for 96% of all government 1.3 million employees.
This is the first industrial action in the public service since 2007.
The government is offering a 7% wage increase and R700 a month housing allowance. But unions insist on an 8.6% wage increase and R1 000 housing allowance.
Mugwena Maluleke, speaking on behalf of Cosatu-affiliated unions, said the unions advised the government not to unilaterally sign the deal, noting that this would anger members even more.
If the government went ahead and implemented the wage deal, Maluleke said unions would "respond appropriately".
Asked what unions intended doing if government unilaterally implemented the wage deal, he said unions will not divulge the details and stated "government must respond to demands".
Public Service and Administration Minister
Richard Baloyi said on Wednesday that in the interest of protecting all South Africans "I will sign the final wage offer".
Baloyi said the government had tabled its final mandate drawn from "serious efforts" to resolve the wage dispute.
The minister said the revised offer presented by the government last Thursday has had to ensure that its socio-economic priorities "are not completely compromised".
"While the principle of granting wage adjustments based on inflation plus a moderate real wage is the ideal, it is posited that this should not pose any serious knock-on inflationary effects and will be dependent on the affordability of the state," Baloyi said.
Maluleke said the strike had been successful today, warning that on Thursday it was going to be worse.
He said all public schools were shut down and government departments were affected.
Baloyi's spokesperson Dumisani Nkwamba said it was difficult to make a proper assessment of the effects of the strike at this stage.