The Institute of Race Relations (IRR) has called on the National Minimum Wage Commission to re-adjust the current figure to save jobs.
The national minimum wage stands at R27.58.
The IRR says the increase has led to a staggering 230 000 job losses in 2024 alone. The institute says this is too high.
IRR Legal Executive Director, Gabriel Crouse says, “In other countries, they know that the minimum wage is destroying jobs, but they think it’s worth it because they’ve only got two or three or four percent unemployment, and they’re more interested in those who keep their jobs getting a raise.”
“But here, with unemployment being officially above 30% and with all the polling by the Institute of Race Relations pointing to that being the biggest problem, we say we need to prioritise the poor work seekers who are being excluded from the job market and those who just had jobs, who are just starting to get that work experience to grow. We need to focus our attention on them and do what we can to help them, which means relaxing the minimum wage requirements.”
Ramaphosa calls for global solidarity as SA stresses G20 presidency
South Africa has had the opportunity to brief world leaders at the World Economic Forum (WEF) in Davos, Switzerland about the country’s G20 presidency.
President Cyril Ramaphosa was briefing the media after he wrapped up his participation at the WEF. He says more solidarity is required in the world in order to advance the interests of ordinary people.
Ramaphosa outlines the key points from that briefing. “Our objectives with regards to the theme of the G20 in South Africa in Johannesburg this year and also the priorities that we are going to focus on. We stressed that we are going to be having three themes: solidarity, equality and sustainable development. These are themes that we would like the G20 to add a lot of substance to, in terms of enhancing cooperation in the world and building consensus as we advance the interests of ordinary people.”
‘Successful and productive’
The President has hailed his trip as successful and productive.
Team South Africa didn’t have to answer hard questions on energy generation this time around as the country has been able to address the challenges of electricity supply.
During his interaction with the media, the President outlined the importance of South Africa at this year’s meeting as it comes in a year Johannesburg will be hosting the G20 leaders meeting later this year.
South Africa will then hand over to America as the incoming president of the G20.
Eskom turnaround
President Ramaphosa, who has wrapped up his participation in Davos, says the turnaround of Eskom has increased confidence in the country.
The country has just surpassed 300 days without load shedding. “We’ve been able to stabilise our energy generation as well as transmission and this has led to increased confidence with the business community here because that is the one issue they kept raising with us that, solve the energy problem and then you will see more and more investments flowing into your country.”
Powered by: Blogspot
Updated: 14:03 30 January 2025 Thursday
Visit us on our Medioq website: https://www.medioq.com/za/wolmaransstad/109641224868699/wolmaransstad-link
Also visit us on our Blogspot Website: wolmaransstadlink.blogspot.com
#WolmaransstadLinkNews
