Time SA bridged gender pay gap
How else do we tackle racial inequality?
THE gender pay gap in South Africa is estimated between 15 percent and 17 percent, according to the 2015 SA Board for People Practices Women’s Report.
This means that for every R1 a man earns, a woman earns around 85c. Put another way, South African women stop earning at the end of October and work November and December free.
This has long-term implications. Women lose out on pension and other benefits related to basic salary.
It seems absurd women are being paid less than men for the same work. South Africa has advanced labour practices, but we still have gender pay issues.
Recently, there was a call in Britain for companies that have more than 250 staff to publicly report their own gender pay gap. Britain joins a handful of others which have done this. South African companies should do the same.
I believe that if pay issues became more transparent, they could be more actively addressed than in the clandestine way they are currently handled.
A pay gap audit will offer a way forward with quantifiable facts.
In South Africa, the Employment Equity Act sets out non-discrimination legislation, the principle of equal pay for equal value. So men, women, different race groups and those with disabilities should not be earning differently for the same work. This, however, is more in theory than in practice. Reasons for the pay gap:
There is a historic bias to pay men more and undervalue women’s skills and workplace contributions.
Men are four times more likely to ask for a raise than women are, and when women actually do ask, they ask for 30 percent less.
Women downplay their achievements and try to communicate in as nonthreatening a way as possible, which is not conducive to getting higher pay. It has been found that about 66 percent of women tend to accept a wage offer without negotiating any aspect of it.
Other issues include the implications of child-bearing, such as career breaks, as well as less investment in women’s training and development.
The issue of the motherhood penalty and fatherhood bonus fuels pay differences. When women take a career break due to childcare responsibilities, it affects their pay, but men who become fathers are seen as breadwinners who have to support a family and so are paid more.
Subject choices that girls make at school have implications for their future pay. Maths and science skills are scarce and therefore attract higher pay. Girls tend to regard themselves as incompetent at these subjects.
Sharing information on a salary slip is taboo, so it is difficult for women to compare salaries with counterparts.
Donna Rachelson author of
I WOULD like to respond to Cardinal Wilfrid Napier’s critique of broad-based black economic empowerment as a mechanism to set right the severe damage done to our country by apartheid and its historical precedents (Sunday Tribune, November 15).
I am a white, middle-aged South African who lived through that discriminatory era and recognise that, 21 years on, it is plainly obvious that much still needs to be done to achieve genuine equality among our population groups.
I do believe better management of our economy during this period would have resulted in greater progress towards remedying the endemic problems, but I also know that extra effort is needed and it is imperative to have legislation such as broad-based black economic empowerment (BBBEE) to fast-track and remove the distortions that still exist.
Cardinal Napier questions whether there is a “legal, moral or constitutional basis for black economic empowerment”. Surely if this were so, its legality and constitutionality would have been challenged and tested by now?
After all, the affirmative action policies were enacted in 1998 and BBBEE in 2003.
As for the moral issue, Cardinal Napier’s core belief is that all human beings must have “equal dignity and respect, regardless of colour, race or creed”.
All thinking South Africans will agree. However, he questions the morality of using race to measure progress in achieving greater equality between the different population groups.
If colonialism and apartheid defined South Africans by race, how else do we openly tackle and solve racial inequality other than by doing so head on?
Given our history, to achieve socio-economic normality means removing race-based inequalities. The BBBEE legislation borrows from successful best practices in other countries with similar historical socio-economic problems. I agree with it because the codes focus on a variety of areas that can be measured, using a scorecard method, to track progress in transforming our economy and society.
Ownership by black (African, Indian and coloured) citizens is one of them. Other elements include recognising:
The inclusion of women, disabled people and rural dwellers in economic activities – such inclusion is massively empowering, raising living standards of these more disadvantaged black groups.
The effective representation of black staff in technical and managerial levels in organisations.
Training and developing black people – employees and even the unemployed.
Supporting small black-owned enterprises by helping their growth and development, and by procuring goods and services from them.
Contributing to our country’s most vulnerable and marginalised citizens through the support of non-profit organisations such as charities involved in health care and education.
I imagine Cardinal Napier would approve these objectives.
It’s worth noting, BBBEE codes don’t exclude white South Africans and non-citizens – usually this goes unrecognised in the media. For example, to obtain full scorecard points on the ownership element requires only a 25 percent black shareholding in a business, and actually represents only 20 percent of the score obtainable.
Although many misuse the codes, this is true with all legislation. They give us a realistic chance of peacefully achieving socio-economic transformation in a structured, organised way. ANTHONY KRUGER
Pinetown READING the Sunday Tribune article (page 3, November 15) headlined “Parents sue hospital for R8m after teen dies” left me disgusted.
The alleged negligence of medical staff is sad. My deepest and heartfelt condolences to the Naidoo family losing their daughter at the tender age of 19.
It is true that some of these medical doctors have a don’t-care attitude and regard themselves above God.
It would be good for the MEC to investigate the death of Jadene Naidoo and look into the alleged incompetence of the doctors.
To the medical staff, remember it could be your loved one tomorrow. That’s how the law of karma works.
DHAYALAN MOODLEY
Mobeni Heights
SO ENGLISH is to become the primary language at Stellenbosch University. What a shame.
Bowing to mob tyranny, capitulating to the baying crowd’s madness. Afrikaans is the first casualty, but there will be more.
And what have we really achieved? Where is the excellence? Where are the vanguards of standards? Where is our elite? Where is our pride in diversity? There should be room for all our national languages.
Afrikaans will survive, but at what cost? And where is the voice of our official opposition? Where is the DA? Too scared and too cowed to speak up to political correctness.
Today it is Afrikaans. What or who will it be tomorrow? MARK LOWE
Durban
Let the government know how we feel
I WRITE in response to the letter from Henry Clark in your November 8 issue.
His letter mentions crime is out of control in this country and something has to be done about it.
He also calls for a referendum on the death sentence.
In my letter to your paper on October 4, I suggested the media hold a poll to ascertain public opinion on the matter with a view to demanding a possible referendum on the reintroduction of capital punishment.
I feel this could be the only way to let the government know how its citizens feel about the matter.
This country is plagued by vicious criminals who are not afraid of the law as they know they can’t get the death sentence no matter what. WADE WILLIAMS
Ladysmith