Minimun wage panel appointed
JOHANNESBURG – Deputy President, Cyril Ramaphosa appoints advisory panel on the national minimum wage.
A national minimum wage may be coming soon.
The Presidency recently released a statement citing that Deputy President Cyril Ramaphosa has, in his capacity as chairperson of the Committee of Principals of the National Economic Development Council (Nedlac), appointed a seven-person panel to advise on an appropriate level at which the national minimum wage could be set.
The committee comprises representatives of government, labour, business and the community, and is charged with, among others, determining the national minimum wage.
In 2014, President Jacob Zuma called on Nedlac social partners under the leadership of Ramaphosa to address low wages, wage inequalities and national minimum wage, as well as violent and protracted strikes.
According to the statement, Ramaphosa has now, in consultation with Nedlac’s social partners, appointed the following persons to a panel of advisers to assist in setting the level of the national minimum wage, taking into account work done thus far:
q Professor Imraan Valodia, chairperson of the panel and part-time member of the Competition Tribunal and a commissioner on the Employment Conditions Commission.
q Mamokete Lijane is a Aluwani Capital Partners macro strategist responsible for macro-economic and fixed income strategy and asset allocation.
q Dr Debbie Collier, an associate professor in the Department of Commercial Law at the University of Cape Town.
q Professor Murray Leibbrandt, Pro Vice-Chancellor: Poverty and Inequality, University of Cape Town.
q Ayabonga Cawe, an economic justice manager at Oxfam South Africa.
q Dr Siphokazi Koyana, a skills development and training expert with local and international experience.
q Dr Patrick Belser, senior economist at the International Labour Organisation.
“The appointment of the advisers takes place against the background of consensus among Nedlac social partners to introduce a national minimum wage as part of efforts to restore the dignity of the majority of South Africans; address the triple challenges of poverty, under-development and inequality; and reduce pay differentials while maximising job creation,” read the statement.
Ramaphosa has extended his gratitude to the panel members for availing themselves to perform this important national task and wished them well in this endeavour.
