The Commission for Conciliation and Arbitration (CCMA) says it has seen a huge increase in caseloads after the implementation of the national minimum wage last year. The minimum wage increased by 3.8% this month.
The commission’s director, Cameron Morajane, says they are now forced to deal with cases that normally would be dealt with by the Department of Labour.
Morajane says this has placed huge pressure on the CCMA’s resources. The Commission launched its new five-year strategy earlier on Tuesday.
“We started at 64 000 and last year we were sitting at between 180 000 and 190 000 cases. That was normal growth. When the national minimum wage started we had anticipated about five in our caseload but it doubled. Is it an exception, yes we can call it that with the addition of the national minimum wage. The growth of our caseload was expanded because of the expanded jurisdiction,” says Morajane.
In the video below, the CCMA’s Cameron Morajane says the economy impacts caseloads
