resident Cyril Ramaphosa has signed into law the National Minimum Wage Bill which sets an historic precedent in the protection of low-earning workers and provides a platform for reducing inequality in society and decreasing huge disparities in income in the national labour market. The National Minimum Wage Act will come into force on a date to be determined by the President by proclamation. The Act sets a floor of R20 per hour for the majority of the country’s workers, which will raise the earnings of an estimated six million South Africans – more than half of the labour force - who earn below this level at present. The National Minimum Wage Act sets South Africa’s first national minimum wage at R20 an hour – equivalent to R3 500 per month, depending on the number of hours worked – and creates a phase-in period for farm workers, forestry workers, domestic workers, welfare sector and care workers, due to their vulnerability to disemployment. The President’s signing of the new law comes four years, to the month, after the National Economic Development and Labour Council (Nedlac) first began deliberations on the protection of low-paid workers; fair and effective competition in the labour market, and the challenges of