And the impact of equity legislation will drive up salaries of white males significantly, says Andrew Levy, head of P.e.o.p.l.e, the biggest labour consultancy in the country.
Employees get the largest increases in their salaries when they move from one company to another.
The new growth sectors, information technology and finance, will continue to drive the engine of South Africa's economy, Levy said. He said the decline in trade union membership will continue as companies carry on outsourcing work. However, South Africa still has a high trade union membership compared to most other countries. He said unions will decline in power at the level of economic influence, but not at the level of political and legislative influence. The average minimum wage in the formal sector is still a paltry sum - R2 064.