Government must allow public comment on job-killing minimum wage raise – IRR

Newsrooms across the country have reported that the National Minimum Wage (NMW) will be hiked soon in line with new regulations issued by labour minister Nomakhosazana Meth – but no provision is made for the legal requirement of a 21-day period for public comment.

The fault here primarily lies with Minister Meth’s department, which has failed to make it clear, either in the Government Gazette or in its public statements, that the period for public comment on the NMW adjustment should still be open.

Furthermore, not only has this crucial fact not been properly communicated, but Minister Meth has failed to provide any channel for the public to use to submit written comment on the draft regulations.

The combined effect is to shut down legally required public participation.

Minister Meth’s conduct is in direct contradiction of the duty imposed by the NMW Act, which states [with added emphasis]: “The Minister must publish the draft of any regulations that the Minister proposes to publish in terms of this Act in the Gazette and allow interested parties at least 21 days to comment in writing on the draft regulations”.

In this particular case, the public must be allowed 21 days to comment on Minister Meth’s draft proposal to hike the NMW by the Consumer Price Index (CPI) plus 1.4%.

IRR Legal has written to Minister Meth requesting that she urgently publish a revised draft of the regulations to comply with the law. This must include a clear invitation for public comment, details of the channels the public can use to submit their comments, and confirmation that such comments can be made within at least 21 days of the publication of the lawfully corrected draft. People’s voices must be heard.

It is most likely that the overwhelming majority will reasonably oppose the proposed hike. A survey published by the NMW Commission of parties that commented on that body’s recommendations showed that only a minority, 22%, supported a NMW increase in 2025, while two thirds, 67%, were against an increase.

That is no surprise, since the NMW is so high that it is the country’s biggest known jobs destroyer.

Economic experts hired by the NMW Commission found that the 2024 increase likely caused roughly 85,000 jobs to be destroyed in a subsection of the labour market, which translates into an estimate of 228,000 jobs destroyed overall.

Worse, the best estimate available is that the NMW has destroyed over 400,000 jobs since 2019 based on data submitted to the NMW Commission.

Destroying hundreds of thousands of jobs so that a lucky few can get raises is not a publicly acceptable trade-off. Unemployment is the rainbow republic’s biggest problem according to polls by a wide range of research organisations, which makes sense given that more than 8 million people are desperately seeking work.

Anyone pushing a higher NMW that is set to destroy more jobs might emotionally prefer not to listen to public comment.

However, Minister Meth has no legal authority to shut down the public participation process. Adhering to the legal process should also have a practical effect. If she listens to the masses and to experts, she could avoid destroying hundreds of thousands more jobs by reversing her proposal to hike the NMW.

Media contact: Gabriel Crouse, IRR Legal Executive Director Tel: 082 510 0360 Email: gabriel@irrlegal.org.za

Media enquiries: Michael Morris Tel: 066 302 1968 Email: michael@irr.org.za