National Minimum Wage South Africa 2026: Current Rates, Who It Applies To, and What Happens If You Don’t Comply

South Africa’s National Minimum Wage increased from R28.79 to R30.23 per ordinary hour worked, effective 1 March 2026. The adjustment — a R1.44 increase representing a 5% rise, announced by Employment and Labour Minister Nomakhosazana Meth in early February 2026 — applies to most workers in the country and sets the floor below which no employer can legally pay.

If you employ anyone in South Africa and have not reviewed your payroll since 1 March 2026, you may be underpaying — and underpaying the National Minimum Wage is not a civil matter. It is a statutory violation that labour inspectors check on every workplace visit, with enforcement consequences that include compliance orders, CCMA arbitration awards, and criminal prosecution in persistent cases.

The 2026 National Minimum Wage rates

The National Minimum Wage Act amendments, published in the Government Gazette on 3 February 2026, set the following rates effective 1 March 2026:

Worker category	Hourly rate
Most workers (general NMW)	R30.23
Farm workers	R30.23
Domestic workers	R30.23
Expanded Public Works Programme (EPWP)	R16.62

Farm workers and domestic workers receive R30.23 per hour, matching the national rate. This alignment — domestic workers and farm workers at parity with the general NMW — has been in place since 2024 and represents a significant change from the earlier framework where these categories had lower minimum rates.

EPWP workers receive R16.62 per hour, and learners under registered learnership agreements receive updated weekly allowances based on NQF level and credits earned, ranging from R455.00 to R2,654.04 per week.

What R30.23 per hour translates to in practice

For a standard 8-hour day and 5-day, 45-hour week, the NMW translates as follows:

Period	Calculation	Amount
Per hour	—	R30.23
Per day (8 hours)	R30.23 × 8	R241.84
Per week (45 hours)	R30.23 × 45	R1,360.35
Per month (45-hour week × 4.333)	R1,360.35 × 4.333	R5,895.60

These are minimum figures. Nothing prevents an employer from paying more. Nothing permits an employer to pay less.

What counts toward the NMW — and what doesn’t

The national minimum wage excludes allowances paid to enable employees to work — transport and equipment costs — as well as payment in kind such as board or accommodation, and tips, bonuses, and food. These items cannot be used to top up wages to the NMW floor. If an employee’s cash wage is below R30.23 per hour, the employer is non-compliant — regardless of what transport allowances or meals the employer provides.

This exclusion trips up many employers in hospitality, domestic employment, and agriculture, where in-kind benefits form part of the total employment package. The NMW is calculated on cash wages only.

Sectoral exceptions: some industries have rates above the NMW

The updated schedule provides new hourly, weekly and monthly minimums for Areas A and B, covering job categories such as general assistants, security guards, cashiers, drivers, clerks, supervisors, and managers.

Security sector: Private security guards in Area A (major metros including Johannesburg, Cape Town, Durban, and Pretoria) must be paid at least R34.25 per hour for Grade C-E general guarding. Area B (other areas) rates are slightly lower.

Wholesale and retail: Employers in the Wholesale and Retail sector must increase their minimum rates in line with the new NMW, with the lowest rate aligned to R30.23 per hour depending on job category.

Contract cleaning: Employers in the Contract Cleaning sector must increase their minimum rates, with a R33.27 minimum in metropolitan areas and R30.33 in certain rural areas.

Road freight:The National Bargaining Council for the Road Freight Industry prescribes its own minimum wages — employers in that sector should verify rates directly with the NBCRFLI.

For any sector governed by a bargaining council agreement, the bargaining council minimum rates apply — and they are typically higher than the general NMW. The NMW is the absolute floor; sectoral and bargaining council minimums sit above it.

What the BCEA earnings threshold change means (May 2026)

The BCEA earnings threshold rose to R269,600.90 per annum (approximately R22,466.74 per month) with effect from 1 May 2026 — a 3% adjustment up from R261,748.45. The earnings threshold determines which employees are entitled to statutory overtime, Sunday premiums, public holiday pay, and other BCEA working time protections. Employees earning above the threshold are excluded from certain BCEA protections (though they retain others).

This threshold change means employers need to review which employees in their workforce now qualify for overtime and working time protections under the BCEA. Employees who were previously above the threshold may have moved below it — or vice versa — following the adjustment. For the full breakdown of which BCEA sections switch off above the threshold and the practical payroll action to take, see our BCEA earnings threshold 2026 guide.

What happens if you underpay

Non-compliance with the National Minimum Wage Act has a two-track enforcement mechanism.

Track 1 — Written undertaking.A labour inspector who finds an employee being paid below the NMW will require the employer to sign a written undertaking to rectify the underpayment within a specified period. If an employer fails to comply with the written undertaking within the specified time period, the Director-General of Labour may request the CCMA to make the written undertaking an arbitration award. Once it becomes an arbitration award, it is enforceable as a court order — meaning the employer can be held in contempt and face asset attachment for non-payment.

Track 2 — Compliance order. A labour inspector may issue a compliance order if they have reasonable grounds to believe that the employer has failed to comply with the provisions of the NMW Act. The order may be issued in terms of section 69(1) of the Basic Conditions of Employment Act.

Beyond the enforcement mechanism, underpayment of the NMW is a criminal offence in persistent or deliberate cases. The Department of Employment and Labour’s 2026 enforcement posture — which produced R10 million in fines from a single national hospitality sweep in September 2024 and has resulted in multiple prohibition notices in 2026 alone — means that NMW violations discovered during routine OHS or BCEA inspections are increasingly likely to be acted upon rather than noted and left.

The February 2026 Overberg inspection found BCEA violations — including underpayment of the NMW — in 16% of workplaces visited. In that inspection, cleaners and hospitality staff were among the affected employees. These are not edge cases; they are the norm in industries where casual and part-time employment is common and payroll is managed informally.

Calculating compliance: a practical check

To verify your current compliance position:

Take your lowest-paid employee’s hourly rate. If they are paid a monthly salary rather than an hourly rate, divide the monthly amount by the number of hours worked per month (standard is 195 hours for a 45-hour week over 4.333 weeks). If the resulting hourly rate is below R30.23, you are underpaying and need to adjust immediately.

For domestic workers and farm workers, apply the same test at R30.23 per hour. These categories were often managed separately under prior frameworks — from 1 March 2026 they are fully aligned to the general NMW with no exceptions.

For EPWP workers, the applicable rate is R16.62 per hour — not the general NMW.