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Johannesburg - Inequality in South Africa has worsened to the point where it is now the widest in the world, Cosatu general secretary Zwelinzima Vavi said on Tuesday.
He was addressing the national bargaining conference of the National Union of Metalworkers of SA (Numsa) in Johannesburg.
"The workers' share of national income was 56% in 1995, but by 2009 had declined to 51%. There is no official poverty line for South Africa, yet the minister of finance has acknowledged that 50% of the population lives on 8% of national income," Vavi said.
Meanwhile the number of South African billionaires has nearly doubled, from 16 in 2009 to 31 in 2010, when the country's 20 richest men enjoyed a 45% increase in wealth.
"Pine Pienaar, CEO of Mvelaphanda Resources, made R63m in 2009, which means he earns 1 875 times as much as the average worker. "
Vavi said that on average, the poorest 10% of earners received R1275 a month, which was 0.57% of total earnings, while the top 10% received R111 733, which was 49.2% of the total.
"We must reject the notion that workers must be modest in their demands, tighten their belts and concede to ideas such as wage pacts, wage freezes and the youth wage subsidy," he said.
"We must say to neoliberal think tanks and research institutes that to argue that workers must tighten their belts whilst a minority of people who do not even lift a finger to produce anything but know how to squander profits is criminal."
Vavi added that calling for wage freezes in the context of rising unemployment (which meant greater responsibility is shifted to those who have jobs); rising transport and fuel costs; and rising food and electricity prices - was tantamount to calling for a reduction in workers' wages.
He, however, praised the strides made by the ANC government.
"Successive ANC governments have raised the number of households with access to piped water to 89%, to electricity and lighting to 80% and to sanitation to 68%. We have built 1.6 million subsidised houses and provided 1.9 million housing subsidies."
Despite this, Vavi noted that the country still facesa major challenges.
"The continued commodification of basic services means that the poor citizens can hardly reap the fruits of this freedom because they are treated as consumers and clients of the neoliberal state."
He asked the conference to make a connection between a worker's wage and the social wage.
He was addressing the national bargaining conference of the National Union of Metalworkers of SA (Numsa) in Johannesburg.
"The workers' share of national income was 56% in 1995, but by 2009 had declined to 51%. There is no official poverty line for South Africa, yet the minister of finance has acknowledged that 50% of the population lives on 8% of national income," Vavi said.
Meanwhile the number of South African billionaires has nearly doubled, from 16 in 2009 to 31 in 2010, when the country's 20 richest men enjoyed a 45% increase in wealth.
"Pine Pienaar, CEO of Mvelaphanda Resources, made R63m in 2009, which means he earns 1 875 times as much as the average worker. "
Vavi said that on average, the poorest 10% of earners received R1275 a month, which was 0.57% of total earnings, while the top 10% received R111 733, which was 49.2% of the total.
"We must reject the notion that workers must be modest in their demands, tighten their belts and concede to ideas such as wage pacts, wage freezes and the youth wage subsidy," he said.
"We must say to neoliberal think tanks and research institutes that to argue that workers must tighten their belts whilst a minority of people who do not even lift a finger to produce anything but know how to squander profits is criminal."
Vavi added that calling for wage freezes in the context of rising unemployment (which meant greater responsibility is shifted to those who have jobs); rising transport and fuel costs; and rising food and electricity prices - was tantamount to calling for a reduction in workers' wages.
He, however, praised the strides made by the ANC government.
"Successive ANC governments have raised the number of households with access to piped water to 89%, to electricity and lighting to 80% and to sanitation to 68%. We have built 1.6 million subsidised houses and provided 1.9 million housing subsidies."
Despite this, Vavi noted that the country still facesa major challenges.
"The continued commodification of basic services means that the poor citizens can hardly reap the fruits of this freedom because they are treated as consumers and clients of the neoliberal state."
He asked the conference to make a connection between a worker's wage and the social wage.
