Few areas of life in contemporary South Africa excite quite so much controversy as black economic empowerment (BEE), a set of government policies and business agreements designed to give the country’s disadvantaged majority greater influence over trade, finance and industry.
The policy has had a huge impact, with large chunks of corporate South Africa transferred to black business consortia. According to an annual survey compiled by Ernst & Young, the accountancy group, these new owners have acquired nearly R500bn ($61bn) of assets since 1990, with more than R150bn of that amount changing hands during 2007 and 2008.
