Temba A. Nolutshungu explains the history behind the introduction of minimum wage laws in South Africa in an article published today:

Curiously, the original rationale for the introduction of minimum wage laws in South Africa was to protect white labour from black competition. In South Africa’s War Against Capitalism, Professor Walter Williams cites Henry Allan Fagan, a judge of the Appellate Division in South Africa, who stated in 1960 that, in the interests of preserving and protecting the vested interests of “the way of life of the best portion of the population, the rate for the job [meaning a statutorily mandated minimum wage] and [job] reservation was necessary to protect whites, coloureds and Asiatics from Bantu”.

Read the rest here.