LETTER: Private sector CEOs’ obscene pay sets bad example
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Congratulations to Allan Seccombe for his article (“Bliksem! CEO pay is still going through the roof after more than doubling in a decade (”, August 27). It is important for journalists to highlight the immorality of a system that creates such obscene inequality.
Since its inception the SA gold mining industry has been based on profit maximisation through the suppression of wages of unskilled (read black) labour. Control of the cost of black migrant labour was essential to enable the mines to make profits and attract overseas investment, mainly from London. This system of profit maximisation, unimpeded by notions of ethics and fairness, has endured, and the obscene remuneration of CEOs is a manifestation thereof.
I have great respect for the integrity of dedicated leaders in the mining industry such as Nick Holland and Chris Griffith, who have made an immense contribution to the country under difficult circumstances and deserve to paid handsomely for their services. Unfortunately, they have been operating within a system that is exploitative and immoral, and the scale of inequality reflected in their remuneration is simply shameful.
We should not be surprised when we witness the corruption of executives in state organisations such as Eskom. When they look at the example of executives in the private sector reaping such massive rewards from what is essentially an immoral and corrupt system, it is perhaps understandable that they feel they also have a right to obscene rewards for their services — even if it may involve blatant, illegal malfeasance.
Ian Robinson, Via e-mail
JOIN THE DISCUSSION: Send us an e-mail with your comments. Letters of more than 300 words will be edited for length. Send your letter by e-mail to letters@businesslive.co.za (mailto:letters@businesslive.co.za). Anonymous correspondence will not be published. Writers should include a daytime telephone number.
Since its inception the SA gold mining industry has been based on profit maximisation through the suppression of wages of unskilled (read black) labour. Control of the cost of black migrant labour was essential to enable the mines to make profits and attract overseas investment, mainly from London. This system of profit maximisation, unimpeded by notions of ethics and fairness, has endured, and the obscene remuneration of CEOs is a manifestation thereof.
I have great respect for the integrity of dedicated leaders in the mining industry such as Nick Holland and Chris Griffith, who have made an immense contribution to the country under difficult circumstances and deserve to paid handsomely for their services. Unfortunately, they have been operating within a system that is exploitative and immoral, and the scale of inequality reflected in their remuneration is simply shameful.
We should not be surprised when we witness the corruption of executives in state organisations such as Eskom. When they look at the example of executives in the private sector reaping such massive rewards from what is essentially an immoral and corrupt system, it is perhaps understandable that they feel they also have a right to obscene rewards for their services — even if it may involve blatant, illegal malfeasance.
Ian Robinson, Via e-mail
JOIN THE DISCUSSION: Send us an e-mail with your comments. Letters of more than 300 words will be edited for length. Send your letter by e-mail to letters@businesslive.co.za (mailto:letters@businesslive.co.za). Anonymous correspondence will not be published. Writers should include a daytime telephone number.