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BL Premium reports that the JSE Ltd, which operates the largest stock exchange in Africa, says remuneration disclosures should apply to all companies, not just publicly traded and state-owned entities (SOEs).
The bourse’s comment came after the government on Friday gazetted the Companies Amendment Bill for public comment. Among other things, the bill seeks to compel companies to disclose the wage differentials between executives and workers. This contentious proposal specifically targets listed companies and SOEs. Big business has already highlighted some of its concerns about the bill, pointing out that high CEO pay is crucial to attract top talent in a competitive global market. It also says the obligation to disclose wage differentials is not useful and will only lead to acrimonious and destructive conflict without leading to a rise in labour prices. The government is of the view that addressing the “excessive” remuneration issue is necessary to tackle the ever-widening income inequality gap. A recent report by professional services firm PwC on executive remuneration found that the median pretax package for a CEO of a listed company was R5.2m in 2020, and R2.8m after tax. That was 100 times the national minimum wage and 35 times the median pay for unskilled workers in big business. According to the bill, companies will be required to publish details of their highest- and lowest-paid employees, average and median remuneration, and the gap between the top 5% highest-paid and the bottom 5% lowest-paid employees.
- Read the full original of the report in the above regard by Bekezela Phakathi at BusinessLive (subscriber access only)
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