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There are two battles being fought at the moment between government and the unions. On the one hand there is an ostensible fight for better wages; on the other hand, there is a political battle of wills. It is quite clear from the statement made by Cosatu Secretary General Zwelinzima Vavi this evening according to EyewitnessNews -- that the majority of Cosatu-affiliated unions have rejected government's revised wage offer -- and from the conduct of Nehawu and Sadtu, that the latter has now taken precedence over the former, and the South African public is being held hostage to a political battle between the unions and the ANC.

What the unions have failed to do up until this point, is to give any indication as to how government is supposed to find the money to accommodate the R8-billion difference between what they are demanding, and what government is prepared to offer. This seems to suggest that they are not prepared to deal with reality; rather with making a political point. South Africa, and our economy, is poorer for it.

What gives the game away, is that both Sadtu and Nehawu, preempted the latest round of wage negotiations by rejecting the standing offer out of hand -- before that negotiation was even concluded.

President Jacob Zuma personally instructed ministers to go back to the negotiation table. A rejection of this latest offer is no doubt aimed directly at the President himself. The unions have one of two choices. They can either put forward a practical proposal as to how government is to find this money, or they can force their demand through, and face the prospect of losing tens of thousands of jobs in the near future, because of the implications of that insistence. The Tripartite Alliance needs to stop playing political games and put South Africa first.