New minimum farm wage set

Labour Minister Mildred Oliphant. File picture: Leon Nicholas

Labour Minister Mildred Oliphant. File picture: Leon Nicholas

Published Feb 4, 2013

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Cape Town - The new minimum wage for farmworkers is R105 a day, Labour Minister Mildred Oliphant announced on Monday.

The new rate, R36 more than the current minimum wage of R69 a day, would take effect from March 1.

“The new minimum wage... is R105 per day for employees who work nine hours a day, or 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, “and... during year two and three, wages will be increased by CPI... plus 1.5 percent.”

The labour minister's announcement followed countrywide public hearings on a new minimum wage for the agriculture sector, prompted by violent protests across parts of the Western Cape.

Farm workers in the region have demanded a R150 a day minimum wage. - Sapa

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