Mail & Guardian reports that over 360 employers, employing over 42,000 workers, have applied to be exempt from the R20 an hour national minimum wage (NMW).  

A presentation to President Cyril Ramaphosa’s office last week by the employment and labour department revealed that, out of 367 applications for exemptions to the NMW, 231 were granted, 8 were still being processed, 41 were deferred because of outstanding documentation and 86 were refused.  The presentation outlined the number of exemption applications between 1 January, when the National Minimum Wage Bill was signed into law, and 12 June.  If all 367 exemptions were to have been granted, 42,496 workers would have been affected.  The presentation did not indicate how many workers would be affected by the granting of the 231 exemptions.  In his State of the Nation address last Thursday, Ramaphosa indicated:  “To address the problems of the working poor, the national minimum wage has been in place now for six months and there are early indications that there are many companies who are now complying.”  The presentation revealed that the highest number of exemption applications (110) came from non-profit organisations and the second-highest number (80) came from the manufacturing sector.

• Read the full original of Sarah Smit’s report in the above regard at Mail & Guardian

Get other news reports at the SA Labour News home page