JOHANNESBURG (Reuters) - South Africa's rand traded firmer against the dollar on Tuesday, feeding off a rise in global risk appetite and still unfazed by a nationwide strike for higher pay by council workers which turned unruly on the first day. At 0714 GMT the rand was up 0.71 percent at 7.7350 against the dollar after closing at 7.79 on Monday, helped a firmer price for gold -- a key export for South Africa -- and a rally in equities as investors drift back to risky assets. Financial markets have taken the job boycott by municipal workers in their stride, as strikes traditionally accompany South Africa's wage negotiation season, but prolonged action could start to weigh on sentiment. "The massive scale of the municipal workers' strike did very little to affect the rand yesterday (but) should the strike extend for more than a week, we could see some fallout effect on the rand," said Alvise Marino, emerging market analyst at IDEAglobal. "We mostly expect the currency's performance to remain glued to the international scene, focusing on U.S. data and the avalanche of earnings releases," he added. Government bonds were also firmer, inversely pushing yields lower. The 2015 bond yield was down 2 basis points at 8.565 percent while that for the 2036 bond dipped by the same margin 8.645 percent. | 
