South Africa raises minimum hourly wage

South Africa’s minimum hourly wage will increase by 6.9% to R23.19 from next month.

The increase outstrips the central bank’s inflation forecast of 4.9% for the year. The announcement by Labour Minister Thulas Nxesi comes two days before President Cyril Ramaphosa will give his state-of-the-nation address in which he may give more clarity on the possible introduction of a basic income grant or additional income support.

Under Ramaphosa South Africa officially introduced a national minimum wage in January 2019 to protect workers from “unreasonably low wages.” While it’s aimed at reducing the pay gap in one of the world’s most unequal societies, it’s unlikely to have an impact on the living standards of a large part of the population where 35% of the people in the labor market is unemployed.

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Source: moneyweb.co.za