BusinessLive writes that according to Oxfam’s new report titled ‘Reward Work, Not Wealth’, 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 were now worse off than before with the rise in inequality levels.  

In the report released on Monday to coincide with the World Economic Forum in Davos, Oxfam shared alarming statistics of wage gaps between employers and workers.  It showed 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.  As Oxfam SA leaders called for action to alleviate the inequality gap, they also conceded that some interventions by the SA government — such as the national minimum wage — could help narrow the gap.  National minimum wage expert Dr Gilad Isaacs said that although there were some reservations about certain parts of the bill, which is expected to come into effect in May, it had potential to reduce inequality.

• Read this report by Theto Mahlakoana in full at BusinessLive
• Read too, Fat cats are getting fatter, at The Star

Get other news reports at the SA Labour News home page