• The National Union of Mineworkers and Numsa both turned down Eskom's 6% offer after a third round of wage talks last week.

• NUM has revised its demand down to 12%, still double Eskom's offer, with further talks between the unions and Eskom scheduled for Thursday.

Two of South Africa's biggest unions have said no to Eskom's latest salary offer of 6%, calling it too low for workers who helped end load shedding.

The National Union of Mineworkers (NUM) and the National Union of Metalworkers of South Africa (Numsa) both rejected the offer after a third round of wage talks last week.

NUM had opened with a demand of 15% but has since revised it down to 12%. That is still double what Eskom put on the table, and well above the country's annual inflation rate of 3.6% recorded in December.

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NUM spokesperson Livhuwani Mammburu said workers deserve credit for turning Eskom around.

"It's not Eskom management that ended load shedding, it's the workers; and we feel that they must be rewarded for their hard work," he said, MyBroadband reported.

Numsa general secretary Irvin Jim was equally firm.

"We don't accept the current offer on the table," he said.

A third union, Solidarity, refused to comment, saying negotiations were at a sensitive stage. Eskom did not respond to questions.

Eskom had previously offered 5.5% before raising it to 6%. The power utility is pushing for a new multi-year wage deal. Its last three-year agreement, signed in 2023, gave non-managerial staff 7% a year, plus a once-off R10,000 payment for the 2023/24 and 2024/25 financial years.

Further talks are scheduled for Thursday.