JOHANNESBURG Aug 31 (Reuters) - South Africa's government has made a new wage offer to striking state workers to end a labour dispute that has raised investor concerns over Africa's largest economy.
The strike added to tensions between President Jacob Zuma's ruling African National Congress and the country's largest labour federation COSATU, which has a long-standing governing alliance with Africa's oldest political party.
The following are some implications of how the new wage offer will impact the strike and what a settlement would mean for Zuma's government:
POLITICAL PRESSURES
Zuma will be given a measure of credit in the short term for acting quickly after he returned last week from a trip to China and then ordered his ministers to try to negotiate a settlement.
If the offer leads to a settlement, unions will likely cool rhetoric about the alliance being on the verge of rupture. But they will still keep up pressure on Zuma to push their agenda of left-leaning policies that include a call to weaken the rand.