How the Forbes billionaire list made me think of my parents

This week, a heavy smog hangs in the air of Johannesburg, South Africa, the city where I live, as I scroll through the World's Billionaires List: The Richest in 2026 published by Forbes.

The list seems unreal and out of touch with my version of reality. Hundreds of billions of dollars attached to people's names. Numbers so large it feels like something out of a simulation rather than the real world.

It made me think of my parents. How I've spent most of my life watching them work so hard to provide for our family as best they could and still not gain the financial security that would allow them to retire comfortably.

Photograph of the Authors's parents on their wedding day, 1995

For many of my childhood years, I stayed with my grandmother during the week and only saw my parents on weekends. I was a baby, completely unaware of the world around me and the reality that my parents had to be away working so we could get by.

Fast forward 29 years and my parents are still working. I don't think they'll ever really have the opportunity to stop, or even slow down as much as they deserve to.

Photograph of the Author as a baby

Meanwhile, a tiny handful of people are hoarding insane wealth. While their lifestyles and investments are fuelling the climate crisis we are living through. Leaving people like my parents and I on the hamster wheel, trying to make ends meet as the planet around us heats, burns, and fills with smoke.

Billionaire wealth is taken, not made

One narrative we often hear about billionaires is that they worked incredibly hard for their wealth. Hard work may well be part of their story (well, at least some of them) but it takes more than just effort to become a billionaire. It often comes with access to resources, networks, opportunities that make that level of wealth possible in the first place.

It depends on systems that allow extreme wealth to accumulate at the very top, through ownerships, investments, favourable tax structures and economic breaks that reward capital far more than labour. And once that wealth is secured, those same systems often make it harder for younger generations to access the opportunities that made it possible in the first place, effectively pulling the ladder up behind them. In addition, to not being taxed at a fair rate, in proportion to their wealth.

Tax inequalities: the billionaires vs the people

There is no lack of money, only a failure to make the richest of the rich pay their fair share.

Let's take Elon Musk, for example, he is reportedly richer than the "poorest" 693 billionaires on the planet combined, that's insane.

Yet according to research from the Institute on Taxation and Economic Policy, Musk's company, Tesla, reported $5.7 billion in U.S. income in 2025 and paid zero federal income tax on those profits.

Compare that to families like mine, where ordinary workers can pay up to 41% of their income in taxes.

Greenpeace is demanding the G20 host South Africa push ahead on accelerating efforts to impose a wealth tax on the world's billionaires and to support the UN Tax Convention for new and fair global tax rules.

In South Africa, where inequality runs deep, many families work incredibly hard just to stay afloat while still paying their dues. People like my parents, who've paid taxes their entire working lives, contributing to communities and the protection of our planet. It sometimes feels like we can swim, but we're still treading water. You're not drowning, but you're not really moving forward either.

All while the very wealthiest continue to profit and make money even in their sleep while benefiting from systems that reduce how much they are required to contribute back to the societies they benefit from.

What if we used that money to fund the future we're trying to build?.

Greenpeace Africa activists sent message to world leaders from Johannesburg's Constitution Hill: #TaxTheSuperRich for people and planet! Activists are gathered at the We the 99 People's Summit ahead of the G20.

Tax the super-rich to protect people and the planet

Billionaires are not only accumulating immense wealth, they are also major contributors to the climate crisis. Research by Oxfam International found that a person in the richest 0.1% produces more carbon pollution in a single day than someone in the bottom 50% produces in an entire year. As they grow richer, the climate crisis gets worse with 2025 being the third hottest year on record.

It is clear that those who profit - and pollute - the most should be taxed their fair share to clean up their mess and to contribute to the collective good. It is morally indefensible that the collective responsibility of tax contribution to fix pressing climate and social problems should fall on hardworking families like yours and mine.

By taxing extreme wealth, it could unlock money to help fund real, practical solutions in the places where people actually live. In my city, that would mean better air quality, greener options for public transport, a better working waste disposal and even investing in resources and education on building systems that protect our planet. Working hospitals, basic service delivery, the list goes on.

500 Greenpeace Africa volunteers are peacefully gathering to send out a powerful message to governments to tax the super-rich.

For me, it would mean living in a society where public systems actually support us instead of making life harder.

By taxing extreme wealth, we could have access to a plethora of resources that would improve people's lives and help address some of the biggest challenges we face, including climate change impacts.

It really can be that simple.

Our parents might not get to fully benefit from these changes in their lifetimes but hopefully we and our children will and maybe the best way to honour everything our parents worked for is to fight for changes that would make the system fairer and greener for all. Together, let's urge governments to tax the super rich and fund a green and fair future.

Naeemah Dudan is a Digital Specialist for Greenpeace Africa, based in South Africa.