Relax minimum wage requirements to save jobs: IRR

File image: A person holding South African rand notes and coins.

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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.”