S Africa unions hint may accept wage deal

JOHANNESBURG, June 27 (Reuters) One of the biggest public sector unions taking part in a damaging wage strike in South Africa said today it was ready to accept a pay offer from the government.

Members of the National Education Health and Allied Workers Union (NEHAWU) were due to vote on the motion later today as union negotiators held another meeting with the government to try to resolve the strike, SAPA news agency said.

''It might take a few hours, it might take a few more days but we want to sign the deal urgently,'' it quoted NEHAWU General Secretary Fikile Majola as saying.

Around 600,000 teachers, nurses and other civil servants walked off the job on June 1 to push for a 12 per cent pay increase but have since reduced their demand to 9 per cent.

The government has said it cannot offer more than 7.5 per cent.

Unions, lead by umbrella body COSATU, have said they would not budge and would forge ahead with the strike that has crippled state hospitals and schools across Africa's wealthiest nation.

But COSATU General-Secretary Zwelinzima Vavi hinted today at a shift in position, saying the latest government offer represented some measure of success.

''No strike has ever been entirely successful. It would be a truly serious error if we snatch defeat from the jaws of victory, if our disappointment makes us talk down the workers' successes,'' he said at the NEHAWU event.

''It is the view of (COSATU's) national office bearers that the draft agreement in its totality represents some progress and gains.'' After almost four weeks of slow-moving talks to reach a settlement, two unions that represent nearly a tenth of COSATU members withdrew their support for the strike -- one of the biggest in post-apartheid South Africa.

The action has brought to light stark differences between the ruling African National Congress (ANC) and its labour allies, who blame the former liberation movement for abandoning the poor through its pro-business economic policies.

Unions were to meet today evening late on Wednesday to discuss the government's final offer which also includes bigger housing allowances.

REUTERS SW KP1912