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The Minister of the Department of Employment and Labour, Nomakhosazana Meth has announced an upward adjustment to the national minimum wage rates for 2025 from R27,58 to R28,79 for each ordinary hour worked.
South Africa implemented the national minimum wage act in 2019, and its subject to an annual review and increases annually from the First of March.
People employed under the government’s special dispensation, the expanded public works programme, are entitled to a minimum wage increase of R15,83 from the previous R15,16 per hour.
The spokesperson for the Department of Employment and Labour, Thobeka Magcai, said the national minimum wage ensures that workers receive their dues and are not exploited for the services they render.
“The national minimum wage determination includes vulnerable sectors such as farm workers and domestic workers, whom since 2022, were aligned with the NMW rates,” she said.
Magcai said the NMW is the minimum amount of pay that an employer is legally required to remunerate employees for work done.
“No employee should be paid below the national minimum wage.
“The 4.2 percent increase shall apply to all workers. The national minimum wage cannot be varied by contract, collective agreement or law; and it is also an unfair labour practice for an employer to unilaterally alter hours of work or other conditions of employment in implementing the national minimum wage,” she added.
