Johannesburg - The national minimum wage (NMW) is now one step closer to being enacted as law after Cabinet approved the bill this week.
The bill will be submitted to Parliament to be discussed by MPs and for enactment, Communications Minister Mmamoloko Kubayi said on Thursday at a post-cabinet briefing.
Representatives from government, labour, business and community signed an agreement earlier this year for the introduction of a national minimum wage.
This was after tense discussions between parties at the National Development and Labour Council (Nedlac).
All parties spent months disagreeing mostly on the amount the wage should be set at. The signed agreement, which was announced by Deputy President Cyril Ramaphosa, set the amount at R3 500 a month/R20 an hour.
But not everyone was pleased by the amount, with labour federation Cosatu having threatened not to sign the agreement.
Political parties, civil society organisations and unions said the amount was too low.
Another issue was that some sectors such as domestic workers would only receive a decreased percentage of R15 per hour.
Other sectors also affected are farm workers at R18 per hour
Kubayi said Cabinet also approved amendments to the Basic Conditions of Employment and Labour Relations - which will be done in order to account for the introduction of the national minimum wage.
“Amendments are also made that affect monitoring and enforcement by the labour inspectorate to apply to compliance with the national minimum wage and unemployment insurance and the jurisdiction of the CCMA is extended to include enforcement procedures and claims for underpayment in terms of the BCEA, the national minimum wage, unemployment insurance legislation, and claims arising from contracts or collective agreements,” said Kubayi.
Political Bureau