Faizel Patel, Radio Islam News – 22-11-2016
A labour analyst has told Radio Islam the proposed new minimum wage of R3500 per month will do little to improve the circumstances of existing workers.
Deputy President Cyril Ramaphosa announced the national minimum wage proposal on Sunday at the National Economic Development and Labour Council (Nedlac).
The proposal was presented by a panel of advisors appointed to advise Nedlac on the level at which the country’s national minimum wage should be set.
Loane Sharp, Director of Prophet Analytics says while there is currently six million people earning less then R3500, the proposed minimum wage will make workers more vulnerable.
Sharp says at least a million employees will become unemployed or partially employed.
“Even if employers comply, with this new minimum wage and there are doubts whether they will, I can’t think of R3500 as a decent wage. Unfortunately the government and its not only in labour thinks that it can change things by waving a magic wand and solve all of the country’s ills, but that’s not possible.”
Sharp says while South Africa has over million domestic workers which include home helpers and gardening staff, households have been economising.
“In terms of gardening, gardeners who worked full time and lived on the property are now being replaced by gardening services and at the same time domestic workers in the household used to live full time on the property and now they are working only a couple of days a week.”
Sharp says employers may resort to civil disobedience or flout the minimum wage requirement by hiring workers on an informal basis due to the law being too far away from reality.
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