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BL Premium reports that a requirement that companies disclose wage differentials between executives and workers was among the measures unveiled by Department of Trade, Industry & Competition Minister Ebrahim Patel on Tuesday.
In his budget vote speech in the National Assembly, Patel said a new bill containing amendments to the Companies Act would be finalised within the next two months "to tackle the gross injustice of excessive pay". The legislation will also require disclosure of what executives earn. SA is consistently rated among the most unequal societies in the world. A recent PwC report showed that CEOs from the 10 biggest companies listed on the JSE earned about R24m a year on average, more or less equal to their peers at London-listed companies and about six times more than what President Cyril Ramaphosa earned. SA’s minimum wage is just more than R20 an hour. The amendments will also deal with stronger governance of excessive director pay, and enhanced transparency of ownership and financial records. The move comes as Patel drives efforts to promote employee share ownership schemes and worker representation on company boards of directors. A further amendment to the Companies Act was to be prepared within the next three months, Patel said, which would set out ways for improved worker representation in decision-making in companies and on boards of directors. He cited the example of Coca-Cola, which has decided to appoint two worker representatives to its board, and PepsiCo which expects to have a worker representative on its board by September.
- Read the full original of the report in the above regard by Linda Ensor and Hajra Omarjee at BusinessLive (paywall access only)
- Read too, Who does the worker on the board work for: the company or the union?, at BusinessLive
Get other news reports at the SA Labour News home page