POLOKWANE – The 8,5% increase to the minimum wage prescribed for workers which includes domestic and farm workers, that came into effect on March 1, delivered a severe blow to employers and in particular families, small businesses and the agricultural sector.
According to the determination, workers should now be paid R27.58 per hour and therefore R220.64 per eight-hour workday and roughly R4 854 per month.
The remuneration does not include the payment of allowances such as transport, tools, food or accommodation, payments in kind like boarding or lodging, tips, bonuses or gifts and applies to all workers and their employers except members of the South African National Defence Force, the National Intelligence Agency and the South African Secret Service.
The act does not apply to a volunteer, who is a person who performs work for another person and who does not receive or is not entitled to receive any remuneration for his or her service.
Government will, however, be paying workers on the Expanded Public Works Programme (EPWP) only a mere R15.16 per hour, from R13.97 previously, despite the determination.
Some local employers of domestic workers have indicated that the situation has now reached a level where they have to consider retrenchments.
“Although we realise that our domestic workers also deserve to earn a living, we have to accept that at this cost, having a domestic worker for 22 days a month is a luxury,” a resident said.
Employers with a larger workforce indicated that the increase will affect production costs and may lead to more mechanisation and less workers. Others confirmed that they have planned to accommodate the increase and will have to work harder and smarter and will inevitably have to cascade the costs to their clients.
The general manager of TLU SA, Bennie van Zyl said that this farmers organisation has, in conjunction with the South African Parastatal and Tertiary Institutions Union (Saptu), the National Employers Association of South Africa (Neasa) and the Southern African Agri Initiative (Saai) urged the Department of Employment and Labour to engage in constructive dialogue and reconsider the existing minimum wage policy.
Van Zyl explained that the submission made by TLU SA and Saptu outlined several minimum requirements for future wage regulations, including a link to minimum education standards, giving preference to productivity over mere presence, addressing infrastructure challenges, restoring property rights and abolishing race-driven policies.
According to Van Zyl, Neasa and Saai agreed with this view and have consistently objected to the concept of a legislated national minimum wage, arguing that South Africa’s unemployment crisis requires a different approach. They propose that unemployment is addressed by focusing on education, upskilling the workforce and stimulating economic growth to raise wages organically within a competitive free market.
“Against the background of record levels of unemployment, poverty and hunger and more than 28 million people dependent on government grants, minimum wage should be totally scrapped. No law, regulation or announcement can force entrepreneurs to create jobs, and South Africa is a painful witness that millions of job opportunities are lost through foolish, populist minimum wage requirements,” Van Zyl remarked.
Chief Director: Communication and Advocacy of the Department of Forestry, Fisheries and the Environment (DFFE), Peter Mbelengwa confirmed that before 1 March 2024, the department was paying EPWP workers at an hourly rate of R16.25 per hour.
“The DFFE shall not be adjusting its current payment rate for EPWP participants. Clause 2(c) of the National Minimum Wage Act, published under Government Notice No. 50073 of 2 February 2024 provides that workers employed on an Expanded Public Works Programme are entitled to a minimum wage of R15.16 per hour,” he explained and added that the hourly rate of R27.58 is not applicable to the participants employed under the DFFE Municipal Cleaning and Greening Programme.
