SOUTH Africa’s harsh economic disparities are best brought into stark relief by one of the highest Gini coefficient scores in the world — the method by which the gap in the inequality of income between the poorest and richest citizens of a country is measured.This has developed into the wage-gap debate in which trade unions and the labour minister criticise excessive CEO remuneration, while academics in executive education and spin doctors argue that, if anything, CEOs are not paid enough.Labour’s argument revolves around the fact that there is no moral or economic justification for annual executive remuneration ranging from 250 times to more than 1,000 times the annual wages of the lowest-paid blue-collar worker. Defenders of high CEO remuneration suggest that lower pay will negatively affect the performance of SA’s companies; that SA’s executives are highly sought after in developed markets and that lowering their pay will cause the most talented to emigrate; that CEOs should be s...
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