South Africa - Increase in the National Minimum Wage Rates

South Africa - Increase in the National Minimum Wage Rates

The Minister of Employment and Labour published Government Gazette 50073 on 2 February 2024, amending Schedules 1 and 2 of the National Minimum Wage Act (NMWA), which will result in an increase in the minimum wage rates effective 1 March 2024:

Effective 1 March 2024, the National Minimum Wage rates will increase as follows-
  1. from R25.42 to R27.58 per hour,
  2. from R25.42 to R27.58 per hour for farm workers,
  3. from R25.42 to R27.58 per hour for domestic workers,
  4. from R13.97 to R15.16 per hour for workers employed on expanded public works programme, and
  5. increased weekly allowances in the table below for workers who have concluded learnership agreements contemplated in section 17 of the Skills Development Levies Act.


  1. One of the qualifying criteria for Employment Tax Incentive (ETI) is that the employee must earn at least the higher of the applicable National Minimum Wage rate or the minimum rate specified by the wage regulating measure.
  2. If an employer cannot afford to pay the National Minimum Wage, then the employer can apply online for exemption from the National Minimum Wage Act.
  3. The Gazette also increases the minimum wages for the Contract Cleaning Sector (Sectoral Determination 1) and the Wholesale and Retail Sector (Sectoral Determination 9) to be in line with the National Minimum Wage Rates.

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