In 2019, South Africa implemented a national minimum wage (NMW) for the first time. This is an important intervention, given that the South African labour market continues to generate some of the highest levels of income and wealth inequality in the world. The minimum wage is intended as a structural intervention to transform the labour market by setting a wage floor, while highlighting larger issues that continue to reproduce inequality in the labour market. The process raises interesting questions about the role of social dialogue in the policy making process, especially at a time when the roles of experts and evidence are contested in political economy. This article reviews the national minimum wage process from two angles: assessing the economic evidence and examining the political economy of minimum wages in South Africa. We take this approach in order to better understand the roles of evidence and politics in the policy making process. While both processes were contested, important differences emerge from the analysis: the economic lens highlights the intersection of evidence and ideology, while a political economy review identifies important lines of contestation in the policy making process itself. The national minimum wage process shows that institutionalised social dialogue continues to be a central part of the policy making process, but that it cannot be taken for granted: the particular configuration of the social dialogue process and the roles assigned to each player matter.

2019年，南非首次实施全国最低工资（NMW）。鉴于南非劳动力市场继续产生世界上一些最高水平的收入和财富不平等，这是一项重要的干预措施。最低工资旨在作为一种结构性干预措施，通过设定工资下限来改变劳动力市场，同时强调继续在劳动力市场上重现不平等的更大问题。这个过程提出了关于社会对话在政策制定过程中的作用的有趣问题，尤其是在专家和证据在政治经济学中的作用存在争议的时候。本文从两个角度回顾了国家最低工资进程：评估经济证据和考察南非最低工资的政治经济学。我们采用这种方法是为了更好地理解证据和政治在政策制定过程中的作用。虽然这两个过程都存在争议，但分析中出现了重要的差异：经济视角突出了证据和意识形态的交叉点，而政治经济学评论则确定了政策制定过程本身的重要争议线。全国最低工资进程表明，制度化的社会对话仍然是政策制定过程的核心部分，但不能想当然：社会对话进程的特定配置和分配给每个参与者的角色很重要。经济视角突出了证据和意识形态的交叉点，而政治经济审查则确定了政策制定过程本身的重要争论线。全国最低工资进程表明，制度化的社会对话仍然是政策制定过程的核心部分，但不能想当然：社会对话进程的特定配置和分配给每个参与者的角色很重要。经济视角突出了证据和意识形态的交叉点，而政治经济审查则确定了政策制定过程本身的重要争论线。全国最低工资进程表明，制度化的社会对话仍然是政策制定过程的核心部分，但不能想当然：社会对话进程的特定配置和分配给每个参与者的角色都很重要。