Key takeaways:
- Free SA is urging regulators to reject any further minimum wage increase
- However, unions are pushing for another above-inflation increase
- The country’s unemployment rate climbed to 33.6% in Q2 2026
Free SA, a South African advocacy group, is calling on the National Minimum Wage Commission to reject any further increase to the national minimum wage, warning that another government-mandated hike risks shutting more unemployed and inexperienced South Africans out of the formal labour market.
The commission has invited written representations on possible adjustments to the minimum wage, with submissions due by September 4, 2026.
It will consider those representations before publishing its annual report and recommendations to the Minister of Employment and Labour later this year.
Free SA spokesperson, Gideon Joubert, said the debate looks different depending on whether someone already has a job.
“For someone who already has a job, a higher minimum wage may look like a victory. But for the young person desperate for a first opportunity, the relevant minimum wage is not whatever number government prints in the Gazette. It is zero rand, because that is what unemployment pays,” Joubert said.
Where South Africa’s minimum wage stands today
South Africa’s national minimum wage currently sits at R30.23 ($1.89) per ordinary hour worked, up from R28.79, after Employment and Labour Minister Nomakhosazana Meth approved a 5% increase effective March 1, 2026.
Labour unions have consistently pushed for larger increases than government has approved.
The Congress of South African Trade Unions welcomed the March increase but said it had tabled a higher proposal, while the South African Federation of Trade Unions rejected the adjustment outright, calling it “grossly inadequate” against the rising cost of living.
Both federations have separately called for tougher enforcement against employers who fail to pay the legal minimum, with Meth committing to hire an additional 20,000 labour inspectors over the next two years.
Unemployment remains high and rising
The wage debate is unfolding against a labour market that has deteriorated over the course of the year. South Africa’s official unemployment rate rose to 33.6% in the second quarter of 2026, up from 32.7% in the first quarter, according to Statistics South Africa’s Quarterly Labour Force Survey.
The number of unemployed people increased by 345,000 to 8.5 million during the quarter, while employment fell by 16,000 to 16.7 million.
Youth unemployment remains far higher than the national average, climbing to 47.4% in the second quarter from 45.9% previously, with 5 million young people between the ages of 15 and 34 now out of work.
Stats SA’s expanded unemployment rate, which includes discouraged work-seekers who have stopped actively looking for jobs, stood even higher at 43.8% for the quarter.
Free SA argues these figures support its position that the priority should be creating entry points into employment rather than raising the cost of hiring.
The group has said pricing inexperienced workers out of their first job can prevent them from gaining the experience needed to command higher wages later, and it is urging government to focus on reducing red tape and labour market rigidities instead of mandating further wage increases.
Cosatu, by contrast, has pointed to independent academic research it says shows the minimum wage has not produced the job losses critics warned it would, arguing the policy has lifted incomes for millions of low-paid workers without the “jobs bloodbath” opponents predicted.
