Unequal Remunerations in the South African Private Sector

Abstract South Africa has passed various laws such as the Employment Equity Act 55 of 1998 to address discriminatory practices in the workplace. These discriminatory practices include the unequal pay between males and females performing work of equal value. Payment of unequal remunerations is prevalent in the South African private sector, and it is exacerbated by the preferential treatment enjoyed by white employees compared to employees in other race groups. White groups and black males dominate higher positions in the private sector and their remunerations are often higher than those of black female employees in similar positions. This is so because the private sector engages in the gender wage gap to the detriment of suitably black South African females who are both underrepresented at managerial levels and paid less than their male counterparts. This paper examined various transformative remuneration interventions and their effectiveness in ensuring remuneration equality regardless of gender. The paper examined those practical challenges that further hinder the achievement of income equalities in the private sector. The paper asserted that there should be consequences such as termination of State contracts for companies that deliberately engage in the payment of unequal remunerations between male and female employees. This paper adopted a qualitative research methodology. The data for this paper were sourced from the desk research, Acts, court decisions and international conventions dealing with income inequalities in South Africa. The paper concluded that companies need to strategise, track and measure income disparities and address the gender wage gap to promote equity and fairness in the workplace.