Thousands of Johannesburg's municipal workers have taken to the streets demanding more pay.

Chanting protesters, waving cut-off tree branches, strewed rubbish through the streets as they made their way to present their demands to business leaders.

"This march is part of our programme of going to institutions that could add influence in the resolution of the matter," said labour spokesman Andrew Nkoenyane.

The 120,000 member South African Municipal Workers Union (Samwu) is demanding a 10% pay rise.

End in sight

The government has already agreed to an 8-9% pay rise for workers, but that offer is still waiting for approval from union members.

A meeting is scheduled for late on Thursday.

Two weeks ago, a protest by striking municipal leaders led to smashed windows and looted shops.

This time, the march was delayed for two days to allow police time to prepare for the event.

Kevin Wakeford, chief executive of South Africa's Chamber of Business estimates that workers have lost a total of 260m rand (�16m; $26m) in wages since the strike began.

He urged all parties to end the dispute as quickly as possible.