South African Workers Strike; Jacob Zuma Not Too Pumped

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From BBC:

Central Johannesburg has been brought to a halt as hundreds of South African workers marched as part of a strike to demand higher wages.

Many commuters were stranded because buses failed to run. Rubbish has also not been collected.

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About 150,000 workers in the country have stopped work. Unions say most public services are disrupted.

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Analysts say the strikes and recent unrest are the first major challenges for new President Jacob Zuma.

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He has called for understanding from workers, but the BBC's Jonah Fisher in Johannesburg says crowd-pleasing promises he made during his election campaign are proving hard to keep.

Our correspondent says a pledge to create 500,000 new jobs has already been retracted.

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In recent weeks, there have been violent protests over the lack of housing, water and electricity in the poorest townships.

Read the rest of the article here.

The recent goings-on in South Africa got The Buzz wondering: What would Americans go on strike about? On our list we have: iPods, reality television, taking our DVRs, taking our cell phones and health care. Just kidding: We didn't put health care down.