In terms of general labour, the market is highly responsive to employment opportunities, with the unemployment rate at 27%, as access to quality secondary and tertiary education is somewhat limited the marketability of the youth (most affected by unemployment) is severely constrained outside of general manual labour / entry level positions. South Africa has regulated the minimum wage on a sectorial basis (eg. Agricultural -, retail -, domestic sectors etc), however beyond this bracket wage determination is market related.

South Africa has a workers rights and labour union friendly policy, this entails that most manual labour environments are unionised or has the potential quickly become unionised. Wage increases are generally negotiated on an annual basis, increases beyond the cost of inflation percentage / minimum wage regulation for the manual labour market is fairly uncommon.