South African wealth gap widening: survey

South Africa's wealth gap is widening and the average black citizen still only earns an eighth of what his white counterpart does nearly 14 years on from the end of apartheid, a new survey found on Thursday.

In its annual survey, the Institute for Justice and Reconciliation (IJR), said inequality rose from 0.60 in 2006 to 0.62 last year on a zero to one scale, on which one represents absolute inequality.

"We are not succeeding in reducing inequality," IJR senior researcher Jan Hofmeyr told AFP.

"Even if the increase is marginal, it is not a good sign. We need to be moving in the opposite direction."

The institute's 2007 transformation audit found that the per capita income of black South Africans was 13 percent of that of whites, 14 years after the end of the white minority apartheid government.

And women were feeling the pinch more and more, with the income of female-headed households measured at 46.2 percent that of male-headed households -- down from 47.9 percent in 2006.

New ANC leader Jacob Zuma made the disparity between rich and poor one of the main themes of his recent successful campaign to oust South African President Thabo Mbeki from the helm of the ruling party.

AFP/IC