Nehawu, nurses union Denosa, police and prisons union Popcru and health union Hospersa were on Tuesday issued with a strike certificate to join public servants union, PSA, after marathon wage talks reached a deadlock at the Public Service Coordinating Bargaining Council (PSCBC).

This comes after acting Public Service and Administration Minister Thulas Nxesi invoked Section 5 of the Public Service Act to implement a 3% wage increase in the public service. 

This was reaffirmed in Finance Minister Enoch Godongwana's medium-term budget last week, which projected growth averaging 3.1% per year in the public service wage bill.

Workers have been picketing outside the offices of the PSCBC offices in Centurion since Monday.

Nehawu's spokesperson Lwazi Nkolonzi says the union will now embark on a development plan for a possible strike from next week. 

"We have received a strike certificate, but we are then going to embark on a process which will cumulate into a program of action being developed.  The Cosatu joint mandating committee is going to be meeting all the Cosatu public service unions that have received the certificate of strike. We will then embark on a program that will be guided by what members are saying."

READ: Public servants threaten to intensify wage pickets as talks collapse

"So to say that were are going to be crippling government services and anything I think it is still early for that, but we will see what our members are saying and the response from the government because we are still adamant and government can still improve their offer to avoid the strike. 

"But at the current moment our members have received the strike certificate and we are planning along those lines currently to embark on the process of consulting with our members developing a program which will ultimately lead us to a full blown action, but we are taking things slowly because we don't just wake up and do things. We have to tag along our members in each and every part that we do."

Nkolonzi adds that unions have reverted back to their initial demands of a wage increase of 10%.

"We have reverted back to our initial demands of 10% but we had said to the employer at the consolation to try and cushion workers against the inflation rate so anything above the CPI is the starting point and that's where we were moving and the employer was not willing to budge on that. 

"They were still arrogant, still saying that they have no money and that they are still offering 3% and our members are not willing to accept that. Our members are still adamant that anything above inflation rate then they will start talking and consider that as a reasonable offer from the employer but the employer is still adamant on 3%."