Johannesburg — The strike has put a significant strain on the governing tripartite alliance, with Cosatu threatening to pull the plug on the federation's support for the ANC.

THE public service strike enters its third week today with the two sides still poles apart.

The strike - public servants are demanding a salary increase of 8,6% and a housing allowance of R1000 a month - is costing the country billions each day. The government has said it can only afford a 7% increase and a R700 housing allowance.

Congress of South African Trade Unions (Cosatu) spokesman Patrick Craven said yesterday that the unions' attempts to invite the government back to the negotiating table had failed.

"I'm not aware of any talks scheduled between unions and government," Mr Craven said.

Government spokesman Themba Maseko confirmed this.

"We hope that talks will resume soon," he said.

The strike has put a significant strain on the governing tripartite alliance, with Cosatu general secretary Zwelinzima Vavi threatening to pull the plug on the federation's support for the African National Congress (ANC).

Cosatu has also threatened to bring the economy to a standstill on Thursday as its affiliates join in the strike in solidarity.

"We will not make a mistake again of voting into power our worst political butchers," Mr Vavi told members of the National Union of Metalworkers of SA (Numsa) at a rally in Sandton on Saturday. Cosatu helped President Jacob Zuma become leader of the ANC, and its support is essential if he wants to seek re-election.

Mr Vavi said last week the alliance forged in the struggle to end apartheid was "dysfunctional" and on the verge of rupture.

For his part, Mr Zuma was critical of striking public servants, saying the strike's effect on health and education had been severe.

The South African Communist Party (SACP), the other partner in the ANC's tripartite alliance, said yesterday that though it supports striking public service workers, a swift resolution is needed.

It condemned "acts of indiscipline" on the part of some of the striking workers. Neglect of ICU (intensive care unit) patients, including newborns, the turning away of ambulances, threats of physical attacks against students and fellow teachers by teachers -- all of these acts punish fellow workers, the children of workers, and the poor in general," SACP general secretary Blade Nzimande said at a news briefing in Johannesburg yesterday.

Mr Nzimande conceded that the tripartite alliance was "experiencing wobbles", but he attributed these to "tenderpreneurs" who want to destabilise the alliance, and not to the trade unions.

Contrary to Cosatu's view, Mr Nzimande said the alliance is "certainly" not dead or dysfunctional.

"It is faring much better at a national level than before December 2007 (when Mr Zuma became president of the ANC)," he said, adding that more attention should be paid to alliance problems in provincial bodies.

Prof Steven Friedman of the University of Johannesburg's Centre for the Study of Democracy, said Mr Zuma is unlikely to interfere in the strike.

"Mr Zuma could intervene in the strike. If he manages to get a settlement, he could get some credibility. But I don't think he is going to do that."

Prof Friedman said if Mr Zuma intervenes, he could alienate Public Service and Administration Minister Richard Baloyi and other ministers who have been firm on the government's offer.

Prof Friedman said Cosatu's anger towards the Zuma government does not mean that it will not support Mr Zuma's effort to secure re-election to the ANC presidency in 2012. "One must expect them to care less about who is re-elected," he said.

However, "they will not necessarily campaign against him".

The government repeated its position at the weekend.

It said unexpected growth in its wage bill would compromise its plans to moderate borrowings, support the economy, enhance the public service and protect the incomes of the poor.

"Put simply, government will be borrowing money to pay wages, and debt service costs," Mr Maseko said.

"This is not only unsustainable, but will require future generations to pay for our current spending."

Spending on personnel is the biggest category of state expenditure, rising, Mr Maseko said, to 47c out of every rand collected in the 2009-10 fiscal year, as revenue collection fell during the recession.

However, the share of compensation has to be viewed in the context of other priority expenditure areas.

Between 2002-03 and 2009-10, real growth in government spending has been "extremely high", averaging just less than 11% a year, he said. "The fact that compensation has not fallen as a percentage of expenditure shows that compensation has grown by similar levels over the period."

In addition, the government's priorities are focused on current household welfare and investing in growth potential.

Transfers to households and capital expenditure have been among the fastest-growing expenditure items.

Government transfers to households between 2005-06 and 2008-09 averaged 15,1% a year in nominal terms, while the average nominal increase of compensation to employees was 14,2% over the period.

Debt servicing costs are predicted to rise sharply - by 17,8% annually from 2009-10 to 2012-13.

The growth of government spending in transfers to households, infrastructure expenditure, and employment in priority service delivery areas over the period was based on a faster- growing economy bringing in additional taxes, falling debt service costs and moderate real growth in wages.

But faced with lower revenue from the slower economy, large deficits and an uncertain economic outlook, "there is going to be very limited fiscal space to accommodate additional expenditure", Mr Maseko said.

Existing expenditure needs to be re-prioritised to focus on areas that provide the greatest developmental effect -- lifting spending on one priority implied lower resources for other priorities. He said the government will try to find savings and increase efficiencies, but in the absence of substantial savings being available, higher wages will come at the expense of lower employment in the government, lower or delayed capital expenditure, and/or lower spending on goods and services, including education and health equipment.

He said current cost of living adjustment proposals are aimed at ensuring the incomes of workers are not eroded by rising prices.

However, Mr Maseko said, cost of living adjustments that are substantially higher than inflation are not justified in an environment of falling inflation, low economic growth, increasing unemployment and little prospect of significant private sector wage growth. With Reuters