Business Report writes that a construction industry stakeholder has warned of a looming crisis in the sector if the proposed R20 an hour national minimum wage (NMW) is implemented.
Gerald Ndlovu, founder and executive director of Black Suppliers, which focuses on the development of emerging building service providers, argued that the R20 an hour NMW was too high for the construction industry. He also warned that the contentious NMW might cause further unrest among the country’s workforce, with labour relations already at an all-time low. According to Ndlovu, emerging contractors were beneficiaries of sub-contracting work and should be exempt from paying the NMW. “Their prices are largely fixed and the work is ad hoc, because there is no steady stream of projects,” he pointed out. Ndlovu claimed that if the NMW was “forced across the industry” it would have a detrimental effect on those seeking employment as it would decrease the number of job seekers the sector could employ.
- Read this report by Luyolo Mkentane in full at Business Report
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