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‘Ramaphosa trying to legislate slavery with R3500 national minimum wage’: Numsa

Cyril Ramaphosa Deputy President South Africa
Cyril Ramaphosa Deputy President South Africa

The National Union of Metalworkers of South Africa (Numsa) on Tuesday rejected said it rejected “government’s proposed R20 an hour‚ R3500 a month national minimum wage for workers”.

The proposed national minimum wage of R3500 per month was presented to the National Economic Development and Labour Council (Nedlac) by a panel of advisors on Sunday and public announcement made by Deputy President Cyril Ramaphosa.

Numsa general secretary Irvin Jim said the union was “extremely disgusted by the mission of the African National Congress (ANC) and Ramaphosa to legislate slavery wages‚ maintain super-exploitation of black and African labour under the disguise of national minimum wage”.

‘Minimum wage ought to be R5000 and above’: ANCYL

“Numsa is convinced that Ramaphosa is extremely dangerous‚ continually gunning for the blood of the working class and ready to evaporate the dream of a living national minimum wage‚” he added.

Jim also took aim at the Congress of South African Trade Unions and Federation of Unions of South Africa‚ calling them “open collaborators with this right-wing conservative agenda”.

“In the recent past‚ we have witnessed the leaders of both federations running around with minister of finance reassuring rating agencies‚ promising them heaven on earth and making commitments without being able to explain what brings the leadership of workers into such a relationship with rating agencies if not making commitments that are selling out workers‚” he said.

“We are particularly angered by the fact that these federations have been participating in meetings where they debated a national minimum wage between R 3700 and R4500.

 “Quite frankly these figures say it all — that both government and business have not been serious and that’s why we reject the stance of these federations whose leaders now going back to workers with insulting proposals and then pretending to be shocked with the R3500 recommendation.” –

 

 

 TMG Digital

 

 

 

 

 

 

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