Implementing a moderate national minimum wage could narrow the gap between rich and poor in South Africa. This is according to scholar Christiaan Meiring who won the 2015 Nedbank Old Mutual Budget Speech competition in the undergraduate category.
Looking at other countries where a national minimum wage has been implemented, Meiring argues that most examples do not reflect a massive rise in unemployment.
He says, "It's not a save-all for inequality and poverty in this country but it is a useful tool in a broader range of tools we have to address working poverty. It has, unfortunately, it has no impact on the already unemployed."