POVERTY REDUCTION
Global experiences reveal minimum wage will help heal SA, not harm it
Many countries feared new law would create more unemployment, but in some cases, it led to more jobs, writes Imraan Valodia
SA stands on the brink of joining an international community of caring economies. For the past few weeks since the presentation of the advisory panel’s report on a national minimum wage, the country has been debating the proposals. It is worth stating that the panel’s key proposal is a national minimum wage of R20 per hour. We are aware that many South Africans think about monthly rather than hourly wages, but many people in the poorest employment sectors (including domestic workers and farm workers) work certain hours a day and also think in hourly rates. Furthermore, many of SA’s most vulnerable workers work less than a full day, so an hourly wage affords protection to a much wider spectrum of workers. We also believe it is worth shifting our thinking to hourly rates as this is one of the tools employers could use to adjust to the national minimum wage. The panellists join all South Africans horrified by the high levels of working poverty in this country and concerned about the wi...
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