A highlight – although a seemingly insane one – of the past week is calls to nationalise the wealth of business moguls like Patrice Motsepe and Tokyo Sexwale.

A "Rich List" published by the Sunday Times shows that Motsepe is the richest South African with R14.2-billion to his name. His mining company, African Rainbow Minerals, has since 2004 grown its market capitalisation by more than sevenfold to R52.7-billion.

Sexwale’s investment holding company Mvelaphanda in the same period has grown more than three-fold to R9.8-billion. His personal fortune has been put at R1-billion.

I agree with others who say that no person in the world could ever work hard enough to earn the wealth Sexwale and Motsepe have – including the men themselves. Their fortunes are a combination of luck, education, contacts, planning, circumstances and many other happenings.

However, this still does not give us the right to strip them of their personal wealth and it would not make any significant difference to the social conditions of citizens in the country if we did. You don’t solve problems by throwing money at them.

Trade union Numsa hid behind the guise of communism when it made the call to nationalise the wealth of the super-rich in this country, but I am certain that even they know it is a poor system indeed. It enriches governments while taking a toll on every other industry and citizen that falls under its rule.

The 1917 Bolshevik Revolution in Russia was the start of communism in that country. The years after the czars were overthrown were marked by political and economic instability. Violent protests broke out because people were not rewarded for their hard labour and were subject to an ever-decreasing food supply.

Russian communism also saw the rise of Stalin and his brutal methods of rule. Freedom of speech was virtually non-existent and violent action from armed forces was used to put down revolts.

The only true communist states that remain are North Korea and Cuba – and the dilapidated state of everything from their economy to houses to cars provides a visual testimony to the inability of the socialist dogma to live up to its ideals.

The true reason for the clamour made by Numsa was highlighted by ANC secretary-general Gwede Mantashe this week. He told a media briefing at Luthuli House in Johannesburg of the "strange phenomenon" among black people where "if anybody progresses we feel very jealous and we resent their success."

Envy and greed, and not a hunger for social good, are then the driving factors that motivate the calls for nationalisation of private wealth.

Have we created a handout culture in our country, where people believe they are entitled to wealth simply because of their history or identity?

Numsa would do better spending its time developing small business, encouraging entrepreneurship and ensuring that empowerment policy benefits the average worker – and not just those who own or drive large corporations. It might even then get Sexwale and Motsepe to part with some of their cash for projects to help wealth growth in communities.

Working hard for your money and wealth; now there’s a novel idea.

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