The Minister of Employment and Labour, Thulas Nxesi, has gazetted the official 2023 minimum wage for domestic workers, farm workers and expanded public works programme workers in South Africa.
According to the gazette notice published on Tuesday, 21 February, the new minimum wage for the affected workers will come into effect on 1 March 2023.
2023 minimum wage for domestic workers
Nxesi’s gazette notice indicates that the 2023 minimum wage for domestic workers in South Africa is R25.42 per hour. This is a 9.62 percent increase from the 2022 wage, which was R23.19 per hour.
Domestic workers will therefore get an extra R2.23 per hour this year. This means that if a domestic worker works for 160 hours a month (eight hours a day for 20 days a month), he or she would be entitled to a minimum wage of R4,067.20 per month.
2023 minimum wage for farm workers
The gazette notice also indicates that the 2023 minimum wage for farm workers in South Africa is R25.42 per hour. This similarly translates to R4,067.20 per month (160 hours).
Expanded public works programme workers
“Workers employed on an expanded public works programme are entitled to a minimum wage of R13.97 per hour,” the notice added. This translates to R2,235.20 per month for 160 hours.
At 9.62 percent, this year’s increase is higher than what the Department of Employment and Labour had initially signalled during consultations. It is also higher than the 6.9 percent CPI announced by Stats SA for January.
At that stage, it was planning an increase of 8 percent, which was slightly higher than the inflation rate of around 7 percent at the time. This year, CPI is expected to average between 5 and 6 percent.