In 2024, the minimum livable monthly income in South Africa is estimated at R15,000, starkly highlighting the disparity with the average earnings of minimum wage workers nationwide, Cape {town} Etc reports.
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University of Cape Town Professor and chairperson of the Living Wage South Africa Network (LWSAN), Ines Meyer, noted that the R15,000 Living Wage estimate is based on LWSAN’s quality of life survey, reflecting the income necessary for low-earning workers to support their families and save for emergencies.
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‘The LWSAN encourages the public and employers to consider the plight of these earners who struggle to afford the bare essentials the rest of us take for granted.’
According to BusinessTech, starting 1 March 2024, South Africa’s minimum wage was set at R27.58 per hour. For a standard 8-hour workday, this translates to a monthly wage ranging from approximately R4633.44 to R5074.72 for a 160-hour work month.
According to Stats SA, domestic workers earn the lowest median salaries in the country, with an average of around R2350 per month. This is less than half the national median of R5417 and falls below the national minimum wage of approximately R4600 per month.
Research from the Pietermaritzburg Economic Justice & Dignity Group (PMBEJD) shows that in most South African households, one wage typically supports an average of four people.
PMBEJD calculates a 40.3% food shortfall for minimum wage workers.
After covering transport and electricity, they are left with R2,191.75, which, if spent entirely on food, provides only R547.93 per person per month for a family of four.
The Food Poverty Line is R760.
‘The National Minimum Wage is a poverty wage – it hurts workers, who ultimately have to make many sacrifices of essentials just to get by,’ said the PMBEJD.
‘We complain about living month-to-month, but many low-earning families survive from morning-to-morning,’ said Meyer.
The UCT professor noted that relief programs, like basic free electricity, are limited to those identified as indigent, meaning one must remain in poverty to qualify.
Meyer said that ‘a number of people insisted that R15 000 could never cover their monthly obligations,’ which she ultimately agreed with.
‘It is hard to make ends meet on R15 000, yet most who work in South Africa earn even less – if it is difficult to live on R15 000 per month, how shall those whose income is even lower get by?’ said Meyer.
‘It’s not hard to see what a tremendous difference R15 000 could make to their existence and their dignity as humans – unfortunately, [many] employers continue to measure a worker’s worth by the value their labour offers the company based on job gradings and benchmarks, not their inherent value as living beings.’
A researcher at Nelson Mandela University, Sebenzile Masango, noted that critics argue a national minimum wage could cause job losses, block low-skilled workers from employment, and be unaffordable for businesses.
However, Masango suggested some of these concerns are misguided, as supporters believe a higher minimum wage reduces inequality and improves living standards for low-paid workers.
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‘The Brazilian experience has shown that higher minimum wages do not automatically lead to job losses – instead, they lead to an increase in spending and reduce inequality,’ said Masango.
Recent data shows that many employers of low-income workers in South Africa are facing growing financial pressures, which could limit significant wage increases.
Eighty20’s Credit Stress report reveals rising loan defaults among the middle class, while wealthier households increasingly rely on credit.
With consumer spending and retail sales weakening in late 2023, the economy risks a technical recession.
Middle-class households have a credit-to-income ratio of 73%, while the wealthiest 5% carry a ratio of 61%.
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