Withdraw Minimum Wage hike − IRR Legal

IRR Legal has sent a letter of demand to labour minister Nomakhosazana Meth saying she must withdraw the latest National Minimum Wage (NMW) hike, as it is invalid.

The NMW Act requires that all ministerial regulations under the Act must first be proposed in draft form to give the public 21 days to comment. When minister Meth gazetted the 4.2% minimum wage hike on 4 February, she failed to do this: no public comment was ever allowed.

On 5 February, IRR Legal wrote to the minister and issued a statement drawing attention to the violation of the NMW Act’s procedural requirements. The minister considered this, and then did nothing.

Minister Meth’s unlawful refusal to take public comment is consequential. IRR Legal submits that if she had heard the public’s voice, she would have withdrawn the 4.2% hike to save tens of thousands, or hundreds of thousands, of jobs from destruction in 2025.

That claim is based on IRR Legal’s discovery that an estimated 280,000 jobs were destroyed due to the NMW hike in 2024, according to data from economists hired by the NMW Commission.

That means the current NMW rate has already made it unaffordable for employers to keep people in work, triggering employment substitution and disinvestment. Increasing unemployment by 280,000 jobs also increases poverty and inequality. Minister Meth’s invalid, irrational hike will exacerbate the plight of people working on the margins, and those seeking work.

Minister Meth ought to know that her hike is also unpopular. The NMW Commission’s survey of submissions indicated that two thirds of respondents (67%) were opposed to increasing the minimum wage, while only 22% favoured an increase.

Broader, statistically representative surveys, including those commissioned by the IRR, indicate that increasing jobs is the biggest national priority.

Cancelling the public comment requirement on her proposed 4.2% hike is understandably convenient for minister Meth in this context, but entirely unlawful.

Minister Meth also failed to table the 4.2% hike before Parliament within the legally required seven days after publication. The labour oversight committee has still not had a chance to debate the 4.2% hike, which is set to come into effect on 1 March, further impeding public oversight.

Finally, minister Meth was legally required to publish the final NMW Commission report concomitant to her proposal, but never did so.

IRR Legal has threatened to challenge minister Meth in court if she does not withdraw her irrational, invalid, job-destroying NMW hike.

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