Just as the Gini coefficient for individuals shows SA is one of the world’s most unequal countries, a Gini of sorts can also be computed for companies. And there, too, the inequality gap is huge and probably widening.
It’s a phenomenon Citi economist Gina Schoeman pointed to in a presentation this week, in which she argued that corporate profitability in SA had fallen through the floor in the eight quarters to the end of 2016. However, while small and medium-sized firms were still struggling to weather the storm, the "super giants" were now doing even better.