Public sector¹ workers in South Africa have begun an open-ended strike, having rejected the government's offer of a pay rise.

南非国营经济部门职工拒绝了政府的加薪提议，开始了一场无限期的大罢工。

Unions affiliated² with（交往，参加） Cosatu, South Africa's main union federation³, have been holding out for an 8.6% rise, more than the latest government offer of 7%.

The strike was reported to have got off to a slow start, though unions say more than a million people could take part.

Many schools, hospitals and public offices are expected to be affected⁴.

Police, teachers, doctors, and nurses are demanding an above-inflation 8.6% pay rise, improved housing subsidies⁵（补贴，津贴） , and other benefits.

But South Africa's government says it can barely afford the 7% offer it has put on the table.

The government needs to find 5bn rand (£440m; $687m) and will have to "re-prioritise" its plans for the year to fund their offer, the minister in charge of the public sector has said.

"It is not the final offer of choice, it is the final offer out of affordability," Minister for Public Service and Administration Richard Baloyi told reporters at the Parliament in Cape⁶ Town.

'Resolute⁷'

Last week, tens of thousands of public sector workers staged marches to hand over their demands to authorities.

The coalition⁸ of unions represents an estimated 1.3 million public sector workers, including government bureaucrats⁹ and judicial¹⁰ officials.

A spokesman for Cosatu was quoted as saying that 90% of those workers could take part.

The union grouping said its members planned to hold marches outside branch offices throughout the country, culminating in a national march on 26 August.

"We made it clear to the employer that our members were resolute（坚决的，果断的） in their pursuit of the original demands," Cosatu said in a statement.

It is difficult to gauge¹¹（测量，估计） the national impact of the first day of the strike but the BBC's Nomsa Maseko reports from the Natalspruit Hospital east of Johannesburg that nurses there refused to work, turning away scores of patients.

In a show of defiance¹²（蔑视，挑战） some 200 workers marched inside the hospital wards¹³ chanting songs, and patients said they went without food, medicine and cleaning the whole day due to the strike.

The hospital is now discussing calling in army medics until the situation returns to normal, while patients in a critical condition would be transferred to nearby hospitals not affected by the protests.