By Botho Molosankwe and Shain Germaner

The public service strike that was meant to attract thousands of government workers to Mary Fitzgerald Square in central Joburg on Thursday morning fell short of expectations.

Fewer than 1 000 people arrived to protest. The few hundred employees, hailing from various government departments, all declared their dissatisfaction with the proposed 6.5 percent general salary increase which has been offered by the government.

The strikers marched through the streets of Joburg from 11am, with police blocking the streets from Mary Fitzgerald Square to the Gauteng provincial government offices on Simmonds Street.

Queues at Home Affairs in the CBD were slower than usual, when some employees abandoned their jobs and joined the march.
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• This article was originally published on page 1 of The Star on July 30, 2010