The new National Minimum Wage, which goes up by 9.6% for farm workers from March 1, will place “tremendous strain” on the agricultural sector which is already facing a difficult economic climate.
This was the warning from the KwaZulu-Natal Agricultural Union, Kwanalu, on Tuesday, following the announcement by Minister of Employment and Labour, Thulas Nxesi, regarding the new minimum wage last week.
“The increase in the national minimum wage will have a negative impact on the livelihoods it aims to serve, as the agricultural sector struggles to keep afloat following other recent, key contributing factors,” said Kwanalu CEO, Sandy La Marque.
Kwanalu’s statement follows statistics that Kwanalu shared with the labour commission, which were compiled from Department of Labour Quarterly Statistics and Annual Reports, as well as submissions from Kwanalu’s member survey, covering all commodity groups in KZN.
“These statistics show that specific pressures have, year on year, resulted in a decrease in agricultural employment since 2019 in KZN,” said La Marque.
The pressures outlined in Kwanalu’s report included an increasingly narrow economic production climate, an abnormally high cost of inflation when compared to other sectors due to the nature of inputs, severe incidents of flooding, the impact of the July 2021 unrest, foot and mouth disease, deteriorating roads and infrastructure, and the significant impact of ongoing and ramped up load-shedding schedules.
“Kwanalu believes that there is insufficient evidence to equitably enforce a greater than Consumer Price Index (CPI) inflation on rural employment; a 0% base rate should have been the departure point. This is relevant as the rural cost of living is lower than the urban cost of living, so it may well be prudent to give agriculture its own minimum wage determination,” La Marque said.
She added that before the announcement Kwanalu had recommended that an increase of less than CPI was more realistic of the industry position and the impact on livelihoods of rural employees.
“We will continue to explore options to address the high increase and its impacts,” La Marque said.
