43: Economic Inequality & Pay

The Academic Citizen

Most universities are at the forefront of denouncing social injustices and inequality yet, in 2013 for instance the highest paid chancellor earned an annual salary of 3.2 million more than what the President of South Africa earns. These figures reflect shocking high salary discrepancies between high earners in these institutions and low earners. Prof Mehita Iqani in this episode tackles this bone of contention amongst many in academia with Prof Rasigan Maharaj, the founding Chief Director of the Institute for Economic Research on Innovation (IERI) in the Faculty of Economics and Finance at Tshwane University of Technology (TUT). Prof Maharaj says it is not enough to only discuss minimum wage, there should be discussions on what the maximum wage should be in South African Institutions of Higher Education. Together they also explore questions of innovation, equality, accountability, pay scales, and socially engaged scholarship. Produced, Edited, Scheduled and Researched by: Simbarashe Honde