Shareholders at big corporations are increasingly pushing back over executive pay

Stephen Grootes speaks to Kwanele Ngogela, senior inequality analyst at Just Share about shareholder backlash over Woolworths’ executive pay and the growing debate around fairness and rising scrutiny of remuneration practices.

Listen to the interview in the audio player below.

Woolworths continues to face criticism from the public and shareholders over the substantial pay gap between its top executives and lowest-paid employees.

The debate has raised concerns about fairness, corporate accountability, and whether executive pay is truly aligned with performance.

A 2024 analysis found that Woolworths had the widest CEO-to-lowest-paid worker pay gap among the JSE-listed retailers reviewed, with a ratio of roughly 1,308 to 1.

In the 2023 financial year, CEO Roy Bagattini earned total remuneration of R122.5 million.

Activist group Just Share has been at the forefront of challenging these wide pay gaps, using shareholder engagement and analysis to push for fairer remuneration practices and highlighting how such disparities fuel broader national inequality.

Speaking to Stephen Grootes on The Money Show, Kwanele Ngogela, senior inequality analyst at Just Share says this is a trend they've been observing for quite some time, particularly at JSE-listed companies.

"Over the years we have been seeing shareholders pushing back, voting against the remuneration reports and remuneration policies. I should say, not hitting the requisite threshold of 75% which requires such resolutions to pass," says Ngogela.

"Increasingly there's an issue of pay fairness and accountability, so what we're actually seeing from our side is this revolt, which reflects a broader trend in which shareholders use their non-binding votes, to encourage discipline particularly on how the boards manage executive pay," adds Ngogela.

Scroll to the top of the article to listen to the full interview.