'SA's wealth not shared equally'

ANC veterans Mavuso Msimang and Snuki Zikalala say the promise that “The people shall share in the country’s wealth” enshrined in the Freedom Charter, which was adopted 70 years ago, has yet to be meaningfully realised.

Seven decades ago, on June 26, 3,000 people met in Kliptown, Soweto, where they adopted the Freedom Charter, a document that called for equality, security, wealth and land, among others.

The clause outlines that the wealth, which includes mineral resources, banks and major industries, should be transferred to the ownership of the people. But the ANC veterans and the Black Business Council (BBC) said the wealth of the country has not been shared equally.

Zikalala said living in a constitutional democracy meant one could not just take “without compensating”. 

“The question of land, minerals and banks, we say those shall be transferred to the ownership of the people as a whole, and we understand that cannot happen now, we understand that we live in a constitutional democracy,” Zikalala said.

He said he took pride in the fact that the Freedom Charter laid the foundation for human dignity and a democratic country. He said efforts were under way to ensure the charter continued to resonate with younger generations.

“We are engaging in inter-generational dialogues to reflect on the brutality of apartheid and share lived experiences. It is not just about telling the story, it is about collectively reimagining how the Freedom Charter should be implemented today. Young people must understand that the rights they enjoy were hard won — people were arrested, tortured and even died for them.”

Msimang said if the country was sharing wealth, then there wouldn't be those living poor. 

"... And this is quite disappointing in terms of achieving the objectives of the Freedom Charter. Then there is a clause about the land [which] continues to be an issue because most of the land remains in the hands of white people,” he said. 

BBC CEO Kganki Matabane said the country was still very far from sharing the wealth, which is supported by the readily available data.

“Black people, who are 93% the majority, own less than 5% of the JSE [Johannesburg Stock Exchange], which means the rest of it is owned by 7% of the population. The wealth is still in the hands of white people, so we cannot say we are sharing, and it might not happen in the next 100 years,” he said 

Matabane said wealth inequality was also prevalent in the workplace. “We have 70% of youth unemployed, and 90% of those are black people. If you look into the statistics, released every year, it also tells you that it's always white people and men who are hired.

“I always ask my friends about the white kids, why are they not in learnerships? It is because their parents own the economy, and they are easily absorbed into the job market. We are very far from achieving the objective of the Freedom Charter from the data that is available,” Matabane said.

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