How broad-based is broad-based black economic empowerment?

Abstract

Common perceptions about broad-based black economic empowerment (BBBEE) have been that it is nothing more than a tool for the already affluent to access further wealth and has limited potential to address the economic exclusion of the most marginalised. An analysis was conducted of data on black economic empowerment (BEE) deals between 2004 and 2009. The findings demonstrate that although the elite continue to benefit from deals, broad-based beneficiaries, particularly employees and women, are also beginning to benefit to some extent. This suggests that empowerment policies have some potential to promote private sector involvement in addressing the state's social transformation agenda. However, a closer analysis of the BEE transactions shows that the BEE landscape is far more complex and nuanced than commonly thought. Further research is necessary to understand the real impacts of BEE on the ground.

Keywords:

• broad-based black economic empowerment
• social and economic policy
• beneficiaries of black economic empowerment
• pluralist institutional arrangements

Acknowledgements

The authors would like to thank BusinessMap for making their databases available to us for analysis.

Notes

¹This database was made available to the authors by BusinessMap and is referred to in this article as the BusinessMap database (2004–06).