More mouths to feed

Cape Town - In his Labour Wrap this week, Terry Bell says that trade unionists have every reason to be cynical about the plans outlined in the State of the Nation.  He points out that, more than ten years ago, the country was informed that economic growth of at least 6% would be required to improve the lot of all South Africans.  This was never achieved.

This week, a new target was set: 5% that it is proposed will be achieved in 2019 or five years down the line.  By that time, Bell notes, there will be many more mouths to feed.  

But while the economic crisis has impacted disproportionately on the poor, the cost of living has increased across the board.  Have wages kept pace or are many working people worse off now than they were five years ago?

For the lower paid, Bell thinks many will be worse off, a case of the poor becoming poorer still - also the subject of this week's Inside Labour column.

He points out that a basket of basic groceries that cost R100 in 1991 now costs R165, a 65% increase.  If wage rises did not exceed that over five years — and many did not — workers effectively suffered a pay cut.

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- Fin24

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* Terry Bell is a political, economic and labour analyst. Views expressed are his own. Follow him on twitter @telbelsa.