23 August 2010Last updated at 14:57

In pictures: South Africa's civil servants on strike

South African state workers seeking higher wages take part in a strike outside a hospital in Soweto

A government injunction in South Africa forbids the more than one million striking public sector workers from blockading state buildings and instructs those providing essential services to return to work.

Members of the South African army at the King Edward VIII Hospital in Durban

The military has been brought in to protect hospitals from the protesters – some of whom are in the sixth day of an indefinite strike.

Striking civil servants protesting outside a hospital in Johannesburg stand by burning tyres and look up at police helicopter

Unions representing the civil servants have refused a government pay increase of 7% - insisting the rise be 8.6%.

A South African doctor shouts at striking medical staff at the Helen Joseph Hospital in Johannesburg (left); South African Democratic Teachers Union members clash with police during their protest in Johannesburg (right)

Tempers have been heated – and some protests in several cities have turned violent.

South African strikers in Johannesburg are sprayed with water by police

Police have fired water cannon, rubber bullets and tear gas – especially at those outside hospitals preventing patients from entering.

Pupils leave a Durban High school after thousands of teachers joined the strike on Thursday 19 August

There have also been reports of intimidation. Trade union leaders say they have instructed their members to continue striking, despite the court order, but to avoid doing anything illegal. Another teachers' union is expected to join the strike from Monday.

A member of the South African National Defence Force assisting at Natalspruit hospital carries documents (left), South Africa's Health Minister Aaron Motsoaledi examines a patient at the Chris Hani Baragwanath hospital in Soweto (right)

Army medics are working in 37 hospitals countrywide and Health Minister Dr Aaron Motsoaledi (right), who volunteered his services at a Soweto hospital on Friday, said workers who interrupted vital medical care are carrying out actions tantamount to murder.

Protesters block the entrance of Helen Joseph Hospital in Johannesburg

The government insists it cannot afford to deliver wage increases that amount to twice the rate of inflation.

Africa

In pictures: South Africa's civil servants on strike

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