Ramaphosa revealed that the Minimum Wage target for South Africa would be R3500 a month or R20 per hour, going forward. Valodia said it was a figure that was not easily reached, following a series of robust debates among members of the panel.
However, he also explained that the overwhelming evidence pointed to a figure that would change the lives of about 40 percent of working South Africans.
"They (the proposals) come from an exhaustive process, where we looked at all of the research being done in this field. We have thought really hard for about three months," Valodia told journalists.
"We have had many heated debates among the panel, we have looked at all the options and we have come to the view that the minimum wage for South Africa, to start with, should be set at a rate of R20 per hour. Depending on how many hours you work, that comes out in the region of about R3500 per month," added the panel chair.
"We have looked at what the impact of this Minimum Wage would be and there is really three types of evidence that has been put before us," he said.
The first is micro economic evidence, which looks at patterns of wages and levels of poverty in South Africa.
"I think this body of evidence highlights the enormous importance of us having a minimum wage. One statistic to share with you is that taking our proposal of R3500, it is quite striking that something around 40 percent of South Africans who do have work, who do go to work every day earn a wage below R3500," added Valodia.
He said that in that context, the impact of the minimum wage would be quite important in that it will change the lives of a significant portion of the population. He said this would go some way to addressing inequality in South Africa and providing an economic boost.
"We are not the only ones to do this. Through this we join a large community in the world where this has been done successfully."
