South Africa ranked 111th out of 146 countries for pay parity score, putting it at the tail-end of the rankings as the WEF didn’t rank many other countries in that area.
- While South Africa has a smaller gender gap than Switzerland, Denmark, Australia and the USA, it’s no cause for celebration.
- Now ranked 20th out of 146 countries globally, SA has regressed from 12th place in 2010.
- But the worst part is SA’s dismal showing on equal pay, despite more women doing better than men at universities.
- For more financial news, go to the News24 Business front page.
South Africa has a smaller gender gap than Switzerland, Denmark, Australia, the USA and many other developed countries. The country ranks among the leaders in political empowerment, sitting at number 13 out of 146 countries in this year’s World Economic Forum’s (WEF) Global Gender Gap Report.
At 0.78, South Africa’s score is better than the 0.71 it got when the WEF published the inaugural gender gap report in 2005. The perfect score is one. The WEF further pointed out that alongside Namibia, Rwanda and 13 other countries, SA has closed more than 70% of its overall gender gap. It is also among the top three countries that registered the largest improvements in its overall score – five percentage points or more – compared to last year, alongside Bolivia and El Salvador.
However, while SA took the 20th position in the overall rankings – just above Switzerland, three places ahead of Denmark and 23 places higher than the USA – it’s a little cause for celebration. SA has regressed from 18th place in global rankings in 2005, when the WEF first published the report and 12th place in 2010.
“The fact that South Africa has teetered around the late teens in the overall assessment of the gender gap for decades is disappointing when considering that initially, South Africa held the highest position in the Global Gender Gap Report of all the African countries.
She pointed out that countries like Namibia and Rwanda now repeatedly rank higher than South Africa, and there are no real signs of positive movement in our country.
Furthermore, many companies in SA still have a vast and pervasive gender pay gap because most people in senior roles are men. Lauren Salt, a director at law firm ENSafrica’s employment practice, said such gender pay gap would persist even if the company pays male and female employees the same amount for similar roles.
READ | 17 JSE-listed companies are still ‘men-only’ in the boardroom
SA’s dismal showing on equal pay
But this is not the most concerning statistic in the Gender Gap Report. What this ranking hides is South Africa’s dismal showing on equal pay. The country’s score on wage equality for similar work done by men and women is at the tail end of the global rankings, although it moved up 12 places from the last report. It is much worse than Rwanda, Uganda, Nigeria, and many other African countries.
“South Africa’s overall ranking is not reflective of its pay parity score. South Africa ranked 111th out of 146 in respect of pay parity,” observed Salt.
Salt pointed out that the 2022 report showed that in SA, women earned between 23% and 35% less than men doing the same job.
She also delved into the Employment Equity Commission’s annual report for 2022/2023, and observed that despite this glaring problem of unequal pay in SA, only 16.6% of designated employers reported barriers to equality in their remuneration and benefits. This means many don’t properly scrutinise their pay practices or they attempt to justify them through other means. Many companies still base their pay for new employees on their previous salaries rather than what men in the same job earn.
Kwanele Ngogela, a senior inequality analyst at shareholder activism organisation, Just Share, said Statistics SA also estimates that the country’s gender wage gap sits at 30% across the board.
And this is not because South African women are less educated or skilled than their male counterparts. SA is ranked first for enrollment of women at tertiary institutions. And according to the Post School Education and Training (PSET) Macro Indicators Trends report for 2010 to 2019, while there are still more male students in the Science Technology, Engineering and Mathematics (STEM) field, many female graduates outstripped their male counterparts over that period.
Ngogela agreed and pointed out that other statistics show that women outperform men at university. “There is no reason why they should not be equally represented in the workplace,” said Ngogela.
It’s time for mandatory pay gap disclosures
Ngogela blames the “extremely slow” pace of transformation in South Africa’s corporate sector. Salt and Just Share think it’s time for mandatory public disclosures of what women earn relative to their male counterparts in SA.
Salt said the income differential statement is currently in SA, and the Employment Conditions Commission is not permitted to disclose any (identifiable) information it receives. All that the public sees is the aggregated data that informs the Global Gender Gap Report scores.
“Globally, more and more multinationals are opting to disclose their pay gap data, even in the absence of a statutory obligation to do so,” said Salt.
Ngogela does not doubt that mandatory disclosures would kick-start “a serious change in this conversation”.
“When women understand how severe the disparity is within their own workplaces, they will demand change. This is a key reason why business has resisted these disclosures so vehemently. It is also time to get rid of outdated and unambitious targets of 25% or 30% female representation,” she said.
Discussion about this post