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This article forms part of the archives of Business Insider South Africa, which was published as a partnership between News24 and Insider Inc between 2018 and 2023.
- A domestic worker averaging 8 hours a day for 20 days a month will earn a minimum of just over R4,000 per month from March.
- On Tuesday, labour minister Thulas Nxesi decreed a 9.6% increase in the minimum wage, to R25.42 per hour.
- That is well ahead of the annual inflation rate of 6.9%.
- SA's draft long-term plan is for a minimum wage that is socially and economically acceptable.
- Domestic workers are considered particularly vulnerable the cost of living spikes.
From 1 March, a domestic worker who averages 20 days of 8 hours each will have to be paid more than R4,000 for the first time, in terms of new minimum-wage rules published on Tuesday morning.
Labour minister Thulas Nxesi decreed that the national minimum wage, the base number for a range of calculations, will be set to R25.42 per hour from that date.
That is an increase of 9.6% from the R23.19 per hour of the past year.
The R25.42 rate will be the minimum for nearly all employees, including domestic workers and farm workers, with the notable exception of people employed in the government's expanded public works system. They may be paid as little as R13.97 per hour, which remains at a level of just about 55% the minimum wage.
For the year to January, the national rate of inflation was 6.9% by Statistics South Africa's count.
The 2022 increase in the minimum wage was set to 6.9%, against headline inflation of 5.7%.
The minimum wage is considered to have a particularly acute impact on the number of domestic workers employed, especially in conditions where their employers are stretched.
Under a draft plan, the minimum wage will be set at a level that allows earners to support their families while also being economically viable – and pegged against salaries in general, to ensure that minimum-wage earners do not fall behind as wages grow.
See also | SA has a new draft target for the minimum wage, but it is not a number
The minimum wage for domestic workers have seen big jumps in recent years, as the discount between the minimum allowable pay for first farm workers and then domestic workers was closed relative to the standard, national minimum wage.
The minimum wage excludes allowances paid to allow workers to do their jobs, such as for transport, as well a food or other benefits provided on the job.
