File picture: Juho Tastula File picture: Juho Tastula
Brits - The African Farmers' Association of South Africa (Afasa) has welcomed the proposed national minimum wage of R3 500 per month but has called for some provisions to be made for smallholder farmers, secretary general Aggrey Mahanjana said on Tuesday.
“Majority of smallholder farmers are fighting for survival, adding the burden of a minimum wage to their financial woes would simply push them out of business,” he said.
He said in principle, the minimum wage was fair and spoke to Afasa's view of farm workers earning decent wages that would ensure decent living standards for them and their families.
Mahanjana said even R3 500 per month was nowhere close to covering the basic cost of living, which was now estimated at more than R5 500 per month for a family of four.
“Afasa calls on government to assist smallholder farmers through a farm worker salary subsidy in order to sustain the current, as well as increasing job opportunities on farms. This, is especially for farmers who have been badly affected by the drought which severely affected their income and threatened their sustainability.”
He said setting a national minimum wage did not have to lead to job losses, and added that farmers who were unable to pay the minimum wage could still make use of Section 50 of the Basic Conditions of Employment Act (BCEA) which makes provision for exemptions from ministerial determinations.
“The farmers need only to state reasons for not being able to comply and provide financial statements to prove they cannot afford the minimum wage.”
AFRICAN NEWS AGENCY