Minimum wage

The legal right to work needs to be clarified for producers and auditors, particularly when employing foreign nationals. Before being employed by a South African business, all foreign workers in South Africa must possess a valid passport or ID and the necessary work permits. Employing foreign nationals without a valid work permit and passport is illegal under the Immigration Act 13 of 2002 (as amended).

Recent SIZA audit findings across all provinces have established that some businesses still miscalculate wages per hour, specifically when using the historically known ‘piece-rate system’ or ‘stuk-werk’ as it is known in Afrikaans.

Due to several findings raised by third-party audit firms recently, it has come under SIZA’s attention that there are still businesses who do not pay the minimum wage rate per hour, specifically because they use a piece-rate system.

The payment of responsible and fair wages is a topic that remains at the forefront of discussions globally.

Agri-workers are currently entitled to a minimum wage of R18.68 per hour by law. This is different to the R20.76 per hour for other sectors.

The rate for the National Minimum Wage (NMW) for each ordinary hour worked is R20.76, however, in terms of agri-workers, the wage payable is R18.68 per hour.

South Africa officially introduced a national minimum wage to protect all workers from “unreasonably low wages” and promote a principle of fair wage increase.