MUCH has been said and written about the perceived exorbitant pay of executives and the accumulation of vast wealth by capitalists. Many unionists, government officials and other commentators have argued that the huge gap between the salaries of junior employees and executives is widening the inequality gap and that this could threaten the fabric of our society.I don’t agree with this kind of thinking, for various reasons. First, the major problem in South Africa is not inequality, but unemployment, entitlement and greed. There is a frightening quest among some of our people to accumulate material possessions and this results in them living beyond their means. This has resulted in ridiculous expectations of higher wages, accompanied by labour turmoil. Even after all Exxaro employees received shares and generous amounts of cash, they embarked on a strike complaining about living conditions and low wages. Due to greed, some people expect free services from the government and redistrib...
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