UPDATE 3-South Africans protest over prices, govt policies

(Adds markets unaffected by strike, paragraph 9)

By Wendell Roelf

CAPE TOWN, July 9 (Reuters) - Thousands of South African workers downed tools on Wednesday to protest against a jump in food and fuel prices, closing businesses in two of the country's biggest provinces.

The walkout in the Western Cape and KwaZulu-Natal provinces, home to two of the nation's largest cities, was part of a drive by the Congress of South African Trade Unions (COSATU) and its allies to pressure the government to tilt policy to the left in Africa's biggest economy.

They are aiming for a national strike on Aug. 6

"I don't even have money to buy bread. I don't have food in the house," said Mabel Adams, a factory worker and mother of four who joined 2,000 protesters to march on parliament in Cape Town.

The impact of the mass action was greatest in Durban, where the transport system ground to a halt and many businesses closed as 3,000 protesters, including labour and Communist leaders, marched through the city centre.

But major installations appeared unscathed by the walkout.

South Africa's largest oil refinery SAPREF was operating normally, while the Richards Bay Coal Terminal, the artery for South Africa's coal exports, was unaffected, officials said.