BL Premium reports that the government’s push to compel companies to disclose the wage differentials between executives and workers is a step closer to becoming law after the cabinet approved the publication of the Companies Amendment Bill for public comment.

In a statement on Monday after its meeting, the cabinet said the proposed legislation sought to amend the Companies Act to reduce the regulatory regime on businesses; tighten anti-money laundering gaps; strengthen the disclosure requirements; and enhance the shareholder powers in a company. The bill containing all the proposed amendments will be published in the government gazette in the coming days. In his budget vote speech in May, department of trade, industry and competition minister Ebrahim Patel said the proposed amendments would aim “to tackle the gross injustice of excessive pay”. In line with international trends, the legislation will also require disclosure of what top executives earned, including CEOs and CFOs. SA is widely considered one of the most unequal societies in the world, but moves to enforce the disclosure of executive pay is likely to be frowned upon by business.

• Read the full original of the report in the above regard by Bekezela Phakathi at BusinessLive (subscriber access only)

Get other news reports at the SA Labour News home page