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Public debate on minimum wage intensifies

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The National Council of Provinces (NCOP) is to have a final say on the National Minimum Wage Bill.  This as opposition parties prepare to put up a fierce fight against it for different reasons.

The Bill was passed by the National Assembly this week.

Ground-breaking legislation or a rushed political decision, these are mixed reactions to the National Minimum Wage.

The proposed minimum wage is R3500 for a 40 hour working week and R3900 for a 45 hour working week.

Labour Minister Mildred Oliphant says:”It must be said that setting the level was an extremely delicate balancing act. In order to demonstrate flexibility, provisions for businesses that may be unable to afford the national minimum wage to apply exemptions are included.”

But opposition parties are concerned that the process to pass the Bill was rushed. Labour federation SAFTU was not included.

The Democratic Alliance (DA) says the proposed legislation will lead to job losses. Michael Bagraim says:”Our treasury has stated that the minimum wage will lead to a further 750 000 job losses and anecdotally we are already hearing from businesses who have stopped recruiting in order to assess the outcome of the implementation of the national minimum wage.”

EFF Thembinkosi Rawula says:”Not only has the minister ignored the input of the committee but she went even further and even undermined NEDLAC agreement therefore undermining the entire national minimum wage legislation.”

But labour federation Cosatu says the amendments are the most progressive since 1994 saying there must be a starting point for a minimum wage unlike demands for R12 500.

However Cosatu says the legislation will help over 6 million workers and generate R5 billion for them.

Matthew Parks says:”If you put it too low, it won’t help people. if you put it too high, it could cause job losses and it has to be based on economic realities we face right now where 1 out of 3 workers is unemployed, where economy is growing at 1%, where you have thousands of retrenchments. So it’s a very difficult balancing act.”

The legislation was passed by the National Assembly and will now be sent to the NCOP for approval.

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