Minimum wage of R105 a day for farm workers
The new rate, R36 more than the current minimum wage of R69 a day, is effective from 1 March.
"The new minimum wage is of R105 per day is for employees who work nine hours a day and is equivalent to R11.66 per hour, R525 weekly, or R2274.82 per month," Oliphant told reporters in Pretoria.
This new sectoral determination would be promulgated for a three-year period. "During the second and third year wages will be increased by CPI plus 1.5%," she said.
The labour minister's announcement followed countrywide public hearings on a new minimum wage for the agriculture sector after violent protests in parts of the Western Cape from aggrieved workers.
Farm workers demanded a minimum wage of R150 a day.
Oliphant said an economic analysis by the Bureau for Food and Agricultural Policy had found that if the average wage of farm workers increased to more than R104.98 per day, many farms will be unable to cover their operating expenses or pay back borrowings.
The study had also shown that the real problem is that even at a minimum wage of R150 per day, most households cannot provide the nutrition that is needed to make them food secure.
Oliphant said all parties on the Employment Conditions Commission had agreed to the new minimum wage except the business representatives, who argued for a lower figure.
Oliphant said an exemption from the new minimum wage would be available to farmers who could prove that their financial situation was so poor that they would be forced to shut down if their wage bill rose accordingly.
The Congress of SA Trade Unions (Cosatu) welcomed the wage agreement, but said it would not signal the end of efforts to improve the position of farm workers.
"Cosatu welcomes this agreement, but it is not enough," said Tony Ehrenreich, the labour federation's Western Cape secretary.
He said the agriculture sector as a whole should be transformed to improve relations on farms and between farmers and the state.
"There is an attitude of hostility between farmers and their workers and to some extent between government and farmers," he claimed.
Source: Sapa via I-Net Bridge