levels
14 March 2007
South African workers were justified in their general wage demands, given
the country's current production levels, Labour Minister Membathisi Mdladlana
said today, Wednesday.
In a written reply to a question in Parliament, Minister Mdladlana, who is
currently attending an International Labour Organisation summit abroad, said
the general wage levels demanded by trade union movements were on par with
general production levels. "Firstly, it is important to look at the trend over
13 years of democracy with regard to the gains received from high production of
goods and services in the country. There is no doubt that the transition from
the apartheid system has paved the way to unprecedented economic growth," he
said.
The Minister said estimations were showing the country's Gross Domestic
Product (GDP) is almost as big as the rest of sub-Saharan Africa, and had been
swelling steadily since 1994. The economy was growing steadily at almost 5
percent last year; investment was looking up, while trade had been liberalised
and public debt cut by half since 1999.
Quoting from Statistics South Africa's quarterly results and others on the
GDP's growth rate, Minister Mdladlana said the economic growth rate was well on
course to reaching the government's 6 percent target. "Indeed everyone in the
country, including workers, would like to have a fair share of the cake."
"Since business owners operate to maximise their profits, it would seem
acceptable that they will be willing to pay workers a wage equal to the
contribution the workers can make to the firm's profitability," the Minister
said.
Available statistics on real wage trends in South Africa indicated that
formal employees' average real monthly earnings increased between 1995 and
2005, although the increase was smaller for Africans than for the other three
racial categories (Coloured, Indian and White). "Based on this research, it is
generally accepted that the real wage received by workers make an important
contribution to the economy with regard to consumption. "This means that the
general wage levels demanded by the trade union movements are on par with the
general production levels," he said.
Although this might likely push low income workers into middle/higher income
bands, a high number of the workforce was believed to be still earning very low
wages, and this was not always keeping pace with inflation.
Enquiries:
Zolisa Sigabi
Cell: 082 906 3878
Issued by: Department of Labour
14 March 2007
