South Africa tops in inequality rankings

South Africa is the most unequal country in the world, with "race" playing a key role in a society where 10 percent of the population owns more than 80percent of the wealth, according to a World Bank report released on Wednesday.

"South Africa, the largest country in the Southern African Customs Union (SACU), is the most unequal country in the world, ranking first among 164 countries," the Washington-based institution said in a report titled "Inequality in Southern Africa.

Previous reports have placed the country at the top of the list.

Thirty years after the end of apartheid, "race remains a key factor in South Africa's high levels of inequality, due to its impact on education and the labor market," the World Bank said. Ethnicity contributes 41 percent to income inequality and 30 percent in education.

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

Africa's leading industrial neighbors that make up the Southern African Customs Union, Botswana, Eswatini, Lesotho and Namibia, all top the list of most unequal countries, making the region the worst in the world, the organisation says.

Gender also plays an important role. In the region, women earn on average 30 percent less than men with equivalent levels of education.