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Johannesburg - The minimum wage for farmworkers will go up by R127.96 a month on March 1, the labour department said on Thursday.
"In an endeavour to protect the vulnerable workers in South Africa, Labour Minister Mildred Oliphant has announced a raise in the minimum wage that farmworkers will receive from their employers," the department said.
In terms of the sectoral determination for farm workers, the minimum wages would increase from an hourly rate of R7.04 to R7.71; a weekly rate of R317.51 to R374.10 and a monthly minimum wage of R1375.94 to R1503.90.
This was calculated on an ordinary 45-hour week and would apply until February 28, 2013.
"The department wishes to inform employers who choose to ignore this farm workers' sector determination, to do so at their own peril," spokesman Paige Boikanyo said.
"Our inspection and enforcement teams will be at hand to ensure that the law is implemented to the letter."
The rates for March 1, 2013 to February 28, 2014, and for the following year, would be the previous year's minimum wage plus the consumer price index, plus 1.5 percent.
The increase was set on the advice of the Employment Conditions Commission following a consultation process and public hearings. Sectoral determination deals specifically with the protection of workers in vulnerable sectors or areas of work.
