Johannesburg - The government, business and labour leaders need to work together for South Africa to survive the current turbulent economic times, trade union Uasa said on Wednesday.
"We urge government, business and labour leaders to put their heads together," the United Association of SA said in a statement.
A plan should be devised to protect South Africans from the negative economic effects and to ride out the current wave of financial uncertainty.
Uasa said the country was not attracting enough investment for various reasons.
According to the World Bank, the top 10 earners in South Africa earned 58 percent of the income, and the bottom half earned eight percent, Uasa said.
"This is one of the main factors deterring international investors, mainly for the fear of future instability resulting from this huge income inequality."
The trade union said other concerns worsening economic conditions at an international level included the rising cost of living and the higher-than-inflation increases of water and electricity.
South Africa would be negatively affected by the European economic crises, the fact that a number of countries needed bail-outs, and a slowdown in China's economic growth.
According to the World Bank report, the slowdown in China's economic growth could mean South Africa's growth could slow to 2.5 percent for the year, Uasa said.