The National Assembly has passed the landmark Minimum Wage Bill. Under the Bill, the salaries of more than six-million will increase, however some critics including labour federation South African Federation of Trade Unions (Saftu) have described R20 per hour as an insult.
The Bill as adopted alongside the Basic Conditions of Employment and the Labour Relations bills.
The National Minimum wage bill which paves ways for a R3500 minimum wage is just one of the three labour bills that were considered by the house.
After the Democratic Alliance (DA) called for a division for voting to take place from the allocated seats of MPs after objecting to the bill, these were the results read by House Chairperson Thoko Didiza
“The results of the vote are as follows: Yes 202, No 17 abstain 1. The question is accordingly agreed to and the secretary will read the bill a second time. National minimum wage bill.”
The Basic Conditions of Employment bill was passed with 202 MPs voting in favour of the bill, 18 voted against and there were no abstains.
The Labour Relations Bill was passed with no objections. All three bills will be sent to the National Council of Provinces (NCOP) for concurrence.
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Minimum Wage App
SABC Digital News and OpenUp (formerly Code for South Africa) has partnered to develop a Minimum Wage App that will give answers to the question: “Can South Africans survive on R3 500?”
Where does the information come from?
OpenUp has used the following data sources:
- Stats SA “Poverty Trends in South Africa” report
- Pietermaritzburg Agency for Community Social Action (PACSA) “Food Price Barometer“
- Stats SA “Income and Expenditure of Households Survey”
How is it calculated?
The money available for food is calculated by subtracting the money used for other expenses from household income. It could be said that it comes after these expenses, though they are actually in conjunction with each other.
