IN HOPING to solve the Western Cape farm revolt with a stroke of a pen, the government has dug itself into a hole from which it will be difficult to climb out.Last week, against the advice of farmers and with hardly a thought for the economic implications, Agriculture, Forestry and Fisheries Minister Tina Joemat-Pettersson struck a deal with the Congress of South African Trade Unions (Cosatu) and other trade unions that the minimum wage for agriculture would be raised as soon as the legal processes could be completed.The process started on Friday with the publication of two notices by Labour Minister Mildred Oliphant: the first cancelling the existing sectoral determination and another announcing that the Employment Conditions Commission, which advises her on wage levels, will this week begin a review of wages in the sector.But, as morally reprehensible as a wage of R70 a day might be, there is a disturbing amount of evidence that a higher wage determination will have a deleterious ...
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