‘Current median wage in SA should be considered’
Academics at a symposium on the National Minimum Wage say the current median wage should be considered.
JOHANNESBURG - As business, government and labour talks over the National Minimum Wage fail to progress, academics attending a symposium about the level at which it should be set say the current median wage in South Africa should be considered.
The symposium was held at Wits University this week, but the Department of Labour says this forum is unlikely to find a solution to the impasse.
There is still no consensus about the level at which the minimum wage should be set with the Congress of South African Trade Unions (Cosatu) suggesting an amount of between R4,500 and R6,000.
Economist and guest at the symposium Doctor Asghar Adelzadeh said, "It is for example looking at what is the main average wages or what is the median wages and then relative to that decide whether it's 40 or 50 percent of the average or 80 percent of the median."
