JOHANNESBURG (Reuters) – South African power utility Eskom has raised its wage offer to 7 percent from 5.75 in negotiations with workers, the National Union of Mineworkers (NUM) spokesman said on Wednesday.

“NUM is going to seek a mandate from its members about Eskom’s latest offer, then we will respond to the management,” Livhuwani Mammburu said. The offer was still below NUM’s demand of a 15 percent increase for the least-paid workers.

The utility employs over 42,000 people with NUM representing more than 14,000 of workers.

(Reporting by Tanisha Heiberg; Editing by James Macharia)