Striking South African Revenue Service workers will be told to go back to work on Monday after the National Education, Health and Allied Workers' Union (Nehawu) resumed talks with the employer resumed on Friday.

"The employer is willing to sit down with us and talk," said Nehawu spokesperson Sizwe Pamla.

He said the bilateral talks, which resumed on Friday afternoon, were expected to continue throughout the weekend in Centurion.

Earlier on Friday, Nehawu held an internal meeting about the Sars wage dispute. The union then dispatched a negotiation team to restart talks with the employer, said Pamla.

"There are issues that we could find each other on," he said.

"We are communicating to members that on Monday they need to report back to work."

Lunchtime meetings would be held at branches on Monday to brief workers on the state of negotiations after the weekend.

The unions would then seek a mandate from the members on how to proceed.

Pamla described as successful marches on Friday in Bloemfontein, in the Free State, and in Limpopo, at the Beit Bridge border post with Zimbabwe.

At Beit Bridge, some Congress of South African Trade Union members had joined the protest in solidarity.

He said picketing also took place in Bellville and the Boland, in the Western Cape, as well as in Mpumalanga.

Previously, Nehawu and the Public Servants' Association rejected a Sars offer of a salary hike of between nine and 11 percent. Members went on strike on Monday. They are pressing for a 13 percent hike.

The unions have also asked for a danger allowance for workers exposed to hazardous conditions and the implementation of appropriate career paths.

On Friday, Cosatu's Free State secretary Sam Mashinini said it supported Sars's workers wage demands.

"These are the workers that ensure that our government is able to collect tax from its citizens effectively and (are) also manning our borders."

He said the workers were put under a lot of pressure to provide services for South Africa. "It is only correct therefore that they be paid properly too."

Sapa