ANNUAL REPORT
Oxfam urges South Africa to reduce widening wealth gap
The amount of wealth concentrated in the top 1% of society’s richest individuals came at a great cost to the working class and the poor, who, according to Oxfam’s new report, are now worse off than before as inequality levels rise. In a report released on Monday to coincide with the World Economic Forum in Davos, Oxfam shared alarming statistics of wage gaps between employers and workers, showing by way of an example that it took the best-paid executive at retail giant Shoprite only 4.58 days to earn what a seasonal farm worker in the country earned in 50 years. Wage inequality has been considered the biggest contributor to SA’s inequality crisis, with workers such as Shoprite employee Edgar Mokgolo testifying to the struggle to exist on paltry wages while bosses continue to pocket millions. “Dangerous, poorly paid work for the many is supporting extreme wealth for the few. Women are in the worst work, and almost all the super-rich are men,” read the report. “Governments must create...
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