Presentation to Portfolio Comm – Labour : National Minimum
Wage
12 Sep 2014
PPF team
1.
Mr. Kashif Wicomb
: PPF Deputy President
2.
Prof Waheeda Amien
: PPF WC Provincial Chairperson
3.
Adv. Paul Ngobeni
: PPF WC Executive member
4.
Ms. Tiara Pathon
: PPF WC member
Objectives of the PPF
1.
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Encourage, foster and nurture progressive thinking.
Provide a platform to stimulate intellectual debate on the progressive agenda.
Leverage and harness the capacity of professionals to engender an inclusive
economic growth and combat the triple challenge of : Poverty, Inequality &
Unemployment.
Mobilise all professionals to play , a meaningful and strategic role in South Africa
; the distribution of economic ownership and control that is representative of the
population & support the African Diaspora strategy.
Seek mechanisms to ensure that the public discourse in the country is balanced
and promote the patriotism of its citizens.
The PPF is an organization which calls together professionals who are ready and
willing to contribute towards the growth of our society and our country . The PPF
is a volunteer corpse in the spirit of the 1960’s and the Defiance Campaign.
We will do this by availing our skills and expertise and engaging at a strategic
level with government and the private sector.
Character of the PPF
 The PPF is a South African based organisation and has a national,
continental and international focus
 Our organisation is non-racial, non-sexist, non-xenophobic and nonafrophobic
 We seek to attract professionals, academia, intelligentsia and
entrepreneurs who align themselves with progressive movements
and who aspire to progressive ideals such as those enshrined in the
Freedom Charter and the Preamble of the Constitution of the
Republic of South Africa.
South Africa Today: The Facts
 Extreme inequality still exists today post 1994

Failure to transform apartheid labour structure, particularly cheap
labour and income distribution
 Phenomenal growth for the black middle class
 Unemployment continues to raise
 Transformation in Education not addressing real needs
 Most unequal economy with 10% owning more than 68% of total
income
 Status Quo cannot continue
PPF Position on the National
Minimum Wage
 The PPF is supportive of the introduction of a national minimum
wage
 The aim must be to ensure that vulnerable workers are guaranteed a
minimum income
 Apply to the minority of workers not removing major success within
sectorial collective bargaining already achieved
 Will lift the working poor from extreme poverty and facilitate the
redistribution of wealth in an unequal society
 Positive step towards achieving a decent working class environment
PPF Position on the National
Minimum Wage
 Should not be a quick fix or done in isolation of other laws governing
poverty alleviation
 Further research must be completed in order to understand the
complexities which could exist around employment conditional
benefits, payroll tax and the like
 The PPF are cognisant of the claims of some critics that job loss or
severe damage to the economy may occur, however US economists
including 5 Nobel Prize Winners state the there will be improvement in
the lives of the low income workers and a positive spin off for their
families.
BPO Sector as an example
 Only sector to have grown by 37% during the recession and growing
year on year
 Demand for 15 000 jobs over the next 3 years
 South Africa unique customer services ethos and english language
capabilities compared to India and the Philippines
 Investors drawn to South Africa for a multitude of reasons however
no sectorial determination exists
 Annualised attrition currently at 52%
 National Minimum Wage will formalise sector and reduce labour
disputes thereby creating a professional image, which is long overdue
 Focus should be on marketing BPO (Call Centre) as a career for
unemployed matriculants
PPF Position on the National
Minimum Wage
 The PPF call for a more realistic basket to measure GDP in order not
to disadvantage the poor
 The PPF call for more productivity t ensure the revenue line is more
sustainable to fund a decent wage
 We also call upon our economists to compute and publish the
multiplier effect
 The PPF has full confidence in the capabilities of our social partners
to reach a realistic National Minimum wage that will take all the above
into account
Special Considerations where
exemptions can be considered
 The informal sector
 Small Business – less than 50 employees
 Current Industries where Sectorial Determinations already exist
“The call now is for each of us to ask ourselves;
Are we doing all we can to help build the country of our dreams? ” –
Nelson Mandela
An idea long overdue