Source: Mwangi Githahu, IOL, 10 February 2022, photo credit: ©petertt/123RF.COM
No sooner had Employment and Labour Minister Thulas Nxesi announced a R1.50 increase in the national minimum wage (NMW) for farmworkers, than the farming organisation Agri SA issued a statement saying it feared that the increase would affect profits.
Minister Nxesi announced that the NMW for each ordinary hour worked had been increased from R21.69 to R23.19 for the year 2022 and that this would be effected from March 1. The increase also includes domestic workers.
Following the announcement, Agri SA executive director Christo van der Rheede said it was vital to stress that the alleviation of poverty does not solely rely on the increase in wages but should be designed in a way to supplement and reinforce other social and employment policies.
“Without an enabling environment for farms and farming businesses to remain sustainable and profitable, we run the risk of increasing unemployment and food insecurity.”
He said they appreciated the important balance maintained by the minister in ensuring workers were earning a wage that contributes to the alleviation of poverty, reduction of wage differentials and inequality in South Africa.
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The South African Pork Producers’ Organisation (SAPPO) coordinates industry interventions and collaboratively manages risks in the value chain to enable the sustainability and profitability of pork producers in South Africa.
