ANC policy conference must ‘affirm’ what radical transformation means – Masina

Ekurhuleni Mayor Mzwandile Masina has weighed in on a new report by Deloitte that shows that in September last year senior executives at the top 100 JSE companies were earning, on average, a total package of R17.9 million a year, or about R69 000 a day.

Masina on Wednesday said the findings of the report were an indication that the ANC needed to emerge from its upcoming national policy conference, starting this Friday, to “affirm” what radical economic transformation meant for the country.

According to the document, The Times reported it found that in the past five years, “executive guaranteed pay increases in general have well exceeded inflation”, with annual cash bonuses paid to CEOs and chief financial officers being “large” in relation to guaranteed pay.

Speaking to Power FM, Masina said radical economic transformation as propagated by the governing party was not just “rhetoric from politicians” and citizens needed to rally behind the policy to be discussed during the conference at Nasrec Expo Centre in Johannesburg.

“This report was done by Deloitte, it was not done by President Jacob Zuma, I just wanted to make that point,” he said. “… I want to argue very strongly that there is a case because inequality continues to exist, and if we don’t come up with policies that are going to change the country’s economy, I think we’ll be fooling ourselves.”

The Deloitte report, among some of its findings, found that about 30 years ago, the ratio of an executive salary to that of an ordinary worker was about 50:1, and it now stood at 500:1.

Masina said it was important for South Africans of all races to have a “decent debate” with the view of changing the country’s economic structure.

He said Zuma had always been “succinct” in explaining radical economic transformation, and it was not a smokescreen for corruption.

“… Few white South Africans believe that things must remain the same, and I’m not saying that with a racial undertone, but I’m saying that things have got to change because it is our people who suffer, who are put in the informal settlements,” he said.

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