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