JOHANNESBURG, March 10, 2022 (BSS/AFP) - South Africa is the most unequal
country in the world, with race playing a determining factor in a society
where 10 percent of the population owns more than 80 percent of the wealth, a
World Bank report said Wednesday.

   "South Africa... is the most unequal country in the world, ranking first
among 164 countries," the Washington-based institution said in a report
called 'Inequality in Southern Africa'.

   Nearly thirty years after the end of apartheid, "race remains a key driver
of high inequality in South Africa, due to its impact on education and the
labor market," it said.

   When race is considered as a factor in income disparities, the report
added, "its contribution to income inequality amounts to 41 percent, while
contribution of education is reduced to 30 percent."

   "The legacy of colonialism and apartheid, rooted in racial and spatial
segregation, continues to reinforce inequality."

   The country's neighbours that make up the rest of the Southern African
Customs Union -- Botswana, Eswatini, Lesotho and Namibia -- all finish high
on the list of the most unequal countries in the world.

   Gender also plays an important role.

   In the region, women earn on average 30 percent less than men with the
same level of education.

   The pay gap between men and women reaches 38 percent in Namibia and South
Africa.

   The uneven distribution of agricultural land is also a factor driving
inequality, especially in rural areas.

   In Namibia, 70 percent of the 39.7 million hectares of commercial
agricultural land "still belong to Namibians of European descent", the World
Bank said.

   The report was produced before the Covid-19 pandemic and its authors used
the Gini coefficient -- an indicator of income inequality -- to rank
countries.