Minimum wage is mass exploitation of the poor and robs jobless of work

IT IS so easy for government agencies to stamp their authority selectively, i.e. the R350 allowance which is about to be completely removed.

The amount is meagre and insufficient for even a week’s groceries let alone rent etc, but nobody refuses to grab that allowance with both hands.

The reason? There is no alternative. Take it or leave it. LordGovernment in Pretoria and Plein Street says so. Finish.

Why can’t the same principle be applied to “minimum wage?” Why does there have to be a dictating salary that limits employment? Both employers and the potentially employable lose this way.

This is not a First World country by any measure. We have to go back to basics.

Thousands, if not millions, of people have nothing to take home because the unions and even many individuals price themselves completely out of the market.

Everybody is having a cashstrapped life presently. (Rogue G-men are excluded as they are not considered human.)

The normal reaction to minimum wages by production houses is: “I am not going to work day and night just to collect salaries for workers. They have only their single responsiblity to take care of. I have sleepless nights, even during non-Covid times, to strategise ways of meeting my commitments by the end of the month.

“I rather downsize, retrench more workers or better still, declare myself insolvent, sell my assets, stay home and relax.”

This attitude is certainly not a charitable one. It does not help anybody and it causes dissension.

It is the root of protests and hunger and eventually leads to revolution. Nobody wins.

If there is no minimum wage, it will become a situation of “take it or leave it!”. Not very nice, eh? But, like that R350, it brings half a loaf of bread, half a litre of milk and pays something towards the rent.

Mass exploitation? Yes, certainly. Like R350, that is temporary relief.

“I am prepared to pay R500 to anybody who can paint my house within two days. Who wants this task?”

The starving and desperate will grab the opportunity. You have, for sure, exploited. Maybe. Perhaps that’s all you can afford or wish to spend.

The sulking worker will finally accept. The really badly-off sees it as an interim lifeline .

Let’s get off the la-di-da Constitution that’s not really feeding the starving ... not in this area especially, let’s get real, let’s feed the poor at a small price, let’s get practical, let’s tell unions to shut shop until we grow one day to First World status.

EBRAHIM ESSA | Durban