THE new minimum wages for farm and forestry workers came into effect from 1 March. A spokesman for Forestry SA said that unlike in previous years, there had not been a quantum increase in the wages in terms of this next three- year cycle, for which the FSA had lobbied.
The minister appears to have taken into account current conditions in the agricultural and forestry sectors (particularly the drought), and has thus implemented an increase for 2016 based on the CPI (excluding owners’ equivalent rent).
The consequent increase is 6.6%. The new rates for workers working nine hours per day, 45 hours per week: Per month: R2 778.83 (previously R2 606.78) Per week: R641.32 (R601.61) Per day: R128.26 (R120.33) Per hour: R14.25 (R13.37) Increases on 1 March 2017 and 2018 will be based on the CPI figure published six weeks prior to the implementation date (excluding owners’ rent) plus one percent. A spokesperson for Kwanalu commented on the wage increase:
