• Latest
  • Trending
  • All
  • News
  • Lifestyle
The food basket cost for agri workers has increased tremendously over the last year, especially the essential food products for agri worker households, i.e. bread, flour, maize meal, samp and cooking oil. Photo: Supplied/Food For Mzansi

Minimum wage: ‘The poorest of the poor will suffer’

16th March 2021
Vacancy: Marketing assistant at Food For Mzansi Group

Vacancy: Junior journalist at Food For Mzansi Group

28th November 2023
Sorghum remains a great choice amid climate challenge

Sorghum remains a great choice amid climate challenge

28th November 2023
10 out 10 farms celebrate birthday

How Food For Mzansi put the country’s farmers on the map

28th November 2023
Husband-and-wife-owned enterprise, Jacobs Jam, was one of three small businesses honoured alongside a host of other exceptional suppliers at the Shoprite Group’s annual Supplier of the Year Awards. Nigel and Christynn Jacobs accept their coveted SMME of the Year Award from the Shoprite Group’s Chief Executive Officer, Pieter Engelbrecht (middle). Photo: Supplied/Food For Mzansi

Jacobs Jam triumphs: SMME winner at Shoprite Awards

28th November 2023
Kulathi Primary Co-op drives change in rural EC

Kulathi Primary Co-op drives change in rural EC

28th November 2023
2023: A gruelling year that pushed many farmers over the edge

2023: A gruelling year that pushed many farmers over the edge

28th November 2023
Vacancy: Marketing assistant at Food For Mzansi Group

Vacancy: Marketing assistant at Food For Mzansi Group

28th November 2023
Vacancy: Marketing assistant at Food For Mzansi Group

Vacancy: Channel manager at Food For Mzansi Group

28th November 2023
ICYMI: NW govt gives abattoirs a well-deserved pat on the back

ICYMI: NW govt gives abattoirs a well-deserved pat on the back

28th November 2023
CPAs need good governance for private-sector land reform support

CPAs need good governance for private-sector land reform support

27th November 2023

10 out of 10: Farmers share what Food For Mzansi means to them

27th November 2023
Rural resilience: Women in farming project triumphs

Rural resilience: Women in farming project triumphs

27th November 2023
Wednesday, November 29, 2023
15 GLOBAL MEDIA AWARDS
Login
Food For Mzansi
  • News
  • Changemakers
  • Lifestyle
  • Farmer’s Inside Track
  • Food for Thought
No Result
View All Result
No Result
View All Result
  • News
  • Changemakers
  • Lifestyle
  • Farmer’s Inside Track
  • Food for Thought
Food For Mzansi
Home News

Minimum wage: ‘The poorest of the poor will suffer’

by Duncan Masiwa
16th March 2021
in News
Reading Time: 5 mins read
A A
The food basket cost for agri workers has increased tremendously over the last year, especially the essential food products for agri worker households, i.e. bread, flour, maize meal, samp and cooking oil. Photo: Supplied/Food For Mzansi

Thousands of workers who work on Mzansi’s farms do not earn enough to secure their own food. Photo: Supplied/Food For Mzansi

The poorest of the poor are going to suffer, insists farmers who have implemented the new minimum wage for farmworkers. Many fear that the new wage might eventually force them to lay off workers.

The 16%-increase came into effect on 1 March 2021. Many farmers have started paying their workers the increased R21,69, but they have now turned to Food For Mzansi to say it simply is not sustainable.

Rural communities are at risk

André Janse van Rensburg, a Bultfontein farmer who sits on the board of Free State Agriculture (FSA), tell us that rural communities will suffer the most following government’s controversial decision.

“The poorest of the poor are going to suffer because they will lose income or have to accept a lower wage. They will struggle to stay alive,” he says. 

Janse van Rensburg explains that because rural economies are wholly dependent on the agriculture sector, they are concerned about the fate of rural food security. There are very few economic activities in rural areas that are not directly linked to agriculture, he says.

He fears massive job losses should farmers have to fork out large amounts of cash to pay labourers.

ALSO READ: Minimum wage: ‘A R350 increase feels like R3.50’

Andre Janse van Rensburg, Free State Agriculture board member Photo: Supplied/FSA

In a recent FSA member study, more than half of participating farmers indicated that they will either have to reduce labour or halt employment completely.

This, Janse van Rensburg says, “spills over into the rural community where someone who is willing to work for a lower wage will not be able to because the farmer simply cannot afford it.”

He believes many farmers will have to eventually mechanise and get bigger and better machines to accommodate the new minimum wage. “At the end of the day, if the farmers cannot farm profitably, they will leave the sector,” he says.

Adding insult to injury, Janse van Rensburg explains, is that Free State farmers are already having to use their own money and time to continuously repair the dilapidated roads in the province. “Government has not done anything to help us with the roads. Instead, they threaten us when we want to fix it ourselves.”

Proposed solution

According to Janse van Rensburg government should have taken the inflation rate into account before adjusting the minimum wage.

“You cannot increase the wage with 16% for one sector and between 3% and 4% for other sectors. Government must give us mechanisms by which we can work and, so to speak, negotiate wages,” he says.

The farmer is adamant that rural areas suffer from a lack of skills and low levels of training. He believes it is worrisome that farmers are forced to pay increased wages to workers without matric certificates without being able to use them effectively.

“A possible solution is if government comes with the suggestion that a farmworker with license must earn R2 an hour more, then it can work. But now we are being forced to fall in line and that’s not right,” he says.

According to Janse Van Rensburg it is not that farmers do not want to pay farmworkers what they are worth. “But government is making the price so high that we simply cannot afford it.”

‘More money makes farmworkers lazy’ 

Minimum wage: Award-winning citrus farmer Wayne Mansfield. Photo: Supplied/Food For Mzansi
Award-winning citrus farmer Wayne Mansfield. Photo: Supplied/Food For Mzansi

Meanwhile a Western Cape farmer tells Food For Mzansi that he will most likely have to let go of a few workers as a result of the increased minimum wage. Instead, he is still trying his best to honour the new wage.

Wayne Mansfield tells Food For Mzansi, “I would like to help my workers grow and achieve their goals, but it is not that simple. There are many challenges, however. If I can afford it, I will do it.” 

On the other hand, he says, the more farmworkers earn the lazier some of them become. “It’s as if they have more money to spend foolishly and on the wrong things. In my business, I make a point of growing people, but I have to agree the minimum wage puts farmers in a very difficult situation.”

ALSO READ: Minimum wage: Workers rejoice, but job losses loom

Share this:

  • Twitter
  • Facebook
  • WhatsApp
  • Email
Tags: André Janse van RensburgFarmersFarmworkersFree State Agricultureminimum wageWayne Mansfield
Previous Post

Snotsiekte: Researchers close to vaccine breakthrough

Next Post

Wheat producers, say hello to two brand-new cultivars

Duncan Masiwa

Duncan Masiwa

DUNCAN MASIWA is the assistant editor at Food For Mzansi, South Africa’s leading digital agriculture news publication. He cut his teeth in community newspapers, writing columns for Helderberg Gazette, a Media24 publication. Today, he leads a team of journalists who strive to set the agricultural news agenda. Besides being a journalist, he is also a television presenter, podcaster and performance poet who has shared stages with leading gospel artists.

Related Posts

Farmers gear up to hit the festive fast lane while dodging crime

Crime out of control as farmers gear up for a fearful festive season

by Sinenhlanhla Mncwango
23rd November 2023
0

Farmers across Mzansi are bracing for a busy festive season but sadly, high productivity levels aren't the only activities set...

Smoky haze hangs over food security as fire season rages on

Smoky haze hangs over food security as fire season rages on

by Sinenhlanhla Mncwango
13th November 2023
0

It's been a devastating few months for farmers across Mzansi as they pick up the pieces during a fire season...

‘Masilwele amalungelo abantu ababhinqileyo abasezifama’

‘Masilwele amalungelo abantu ababhinqileyo abasezifama’

by Zwelivelile Mandela
8th October 2023
0

UZwelivelile Mandela uhlabe ikhwelo elingxamisekileyo lokulwelwa kwamalungelo abantu ababhinqileyo abasezifama bona basisiseko secandelo lezolimo nokufuya laseMzantsi Afrika (SA).

Undizela phezulu kwezilimo owase-EC

Undizela phezulu kwezilimo owase-EC

by Vateka Halile
3rd October 2023
0

Ngemuva kokuchezuka kaniningana, uNksz Nonsikelelo Kwezi ugcine ethole ipulazi eMpumalanga Kapa futhi naye ufaka isandla embidlangweni wokuqeda indlala.

Next Post
Multiplications for Usutu and Selons wheat lines were planted during 2020 amidst the fear and confusion brought on by the Covid-19 pandemic. Photo: Supplied/ARC

Wheat producers, say hello to two brand-new cultivars

Husband-and-wife-owned enterprise, Jacobs Jam, was one of three small businesses honoured alongside a host of other exceptional suppliers at the Shoprite Group’s annual Supplier of the Year Awards. Nigel and Christynn Jacobs accept their coveted SMME of the Year Award from the Shoprite Group’s Chief Executive Officer, Pieter Engelbrecht (middle). Photo: Supplied/Food For Mzansi
News

Jacobs Jam triumphs: SMME winner at Shoprite Awards

by Ivor Price
28th November 2023
0

Jacobs Jam, a Ceres-based enterprise, clinched the top SMME Award at Shoprite Group’s Supplier of the Year Awards, marking their...

Read more
Kulathi Primary Co-op drives change in rural EC

Kulathi Primary Co-op drives change in rural EC

28th November 2023
2023: A gruelling year that pushed many farmers over the edge

2023: A gruelling year that pushed many farmers over the edge

28th November 2023
Vacancy: Marketing assistant at Food For Mzansi Group

Vacancy: Marketing assistant at Food For Mzansi Group

28th November 2023
Vacancy: Marketing assistant at Food For Mzansi Group

Vacancy: Channel manager at Food For Mzansi Group

28th November 2023

CPAs need good governance for private-sector land reform support

ICYMI: Lower citrus exports in 2023 leave a sour taste

Podcast: Shoo, fly shoo! Steps to tackle flies on your farm

Make magic with braised lamb chops with creamy mushrooms

Mzansi uncorks month-long wine heritage bash

ICYMI: NW govt gives abattoirs a well-deserved pat on the back

RSS From FoodForAfrika.com

  • $2 Million investment in fertiliser financing for Kenyan smallholders
  • AfDB empowers Tanzanian horticulture with $2.5m boost
  • Malagasy scientist wins $150k grant

THE NEW FACE OF SOUTH AFRICAN AGRICULTURE

With 15 global awards in the first four years of its existence, Food For Mzansi is much more than an agriculture publication. It is a movement, unashamedly saluting the unsung heroes of South African agriculture. We believe in the power of agriculture to promote nation building and social cohesion by telling stories that are often overlooked by broader society.

Vacancy: Junior journalist at Food For Mzansi Group

Sorghum remains a great choice amid climate challenge

How Food For Mzansi put the country’s farmers on the map

Jacobs Jam triumphs: SMME winner at Shoprite Awards

Kulathi Primary Co-op drives change in rural EC

2023: A gruelling year that pushed many farmers over the edge

  • Our Story
  • Contact Us
  • Cookie Policy
  • Privacy Policy
  • Copyright

Contact us
Office: +27 21 879 1824
News: info@foodformzansi.co.za
Advertising: sales@foodformzansi.co.za

No Result
View All Result
  • News
  • Changemakers
  • Lifestyle
  • Farmer’s Inside Track
  • Food for Thought
Login

Copyright © 2021 Food for Mzansi

This website uses cookies. By continuing to use this website you are giving consent to cookies being used. Visit our Privacy and Cookie Policy.