South Africa raises national minimum wage to 3,500 rand ($260)

South Africa raises national minimum wage to 3,500 rand ($260)

- South Africa has announced the increament of national minimum wage to 3,500 rand ($260)

- The new increase which will take effect from May 2018 is expected to stimulate economic growth

- Critics have however express fear that the new wage may lead to unemployment as employers might not be able to afford it

South Africa has announced the introduction of 3,500 rand ($260) national minimum wage effective from 2018.

According to Reuters, Deputy President Cyril Ramaphosa made this announcement on Wednesday, February 8 while speaking to pressmen after a negotiation by the government of South Africa and the Labour unions.

Supporters of a minimum wage say it can stimulate growth as workers can spend more, as well as reducing inequality. However, critics have warned that this might lead to unemployment as employers might be unable to afford higher wage bills.

Ramaphosa said the national minimum wage, which equates to 20 rand ($1.50) per hour, would come into effect in May 2018.

Ramaphosa said: "The balance we have sought to strike is that it must not be too low, so that it doesn't affect the lowest paid workers, but not too high that it leads to massive job losses."

Recall that the Nigeria Labour Congress (NLC) and Trade Union Congress of Nigeria called on the federal government to increase the minimum wage from N18,000 to N56,000. Mr Peters Adeyemi, deputy president of the NLC made the call for increment in Abuja on Friday, April 29, 2016. Several months after the call for this increment, Nigeria is still stuck at N18,000 minimum wage.

Meanwhile, the federal government has asked the South African Government to investigate and punish those involved in the killing of a Nigerian in Johannesburg in December last year.

It also called on Pretoria to end extrajudicial killings, criminalisation of immigrants and xenophobic attacks in South Africa.

The Special Assistant to the President on Foreign Affairs and Diaspora, Abike Dabiri-Erewa, said that Nigeria and South Africa should rather be engaging in cooperation that could lead to social-economic development as the two giants of Africa