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Mail & Guardian

Economic Transformation

latest news & developments
Economic power: This Heritage Month, the question is not whether South Africa values Indigenous knowledge . . . it is whether we will build the legal, institutional and economic architecture that allows it to seed new industries. Photo: Delwyn Verasamy
INDIGENOUS KNOWLEDGE

The refreshment station never closed

From colonial refreshment station to modern value chains, South Africa faces a vital test: ensuring Indigenous knowledge systems foster true ownership, enterprise, and…

  • Busisiwe Madikizela-Theu
  • Malusi Mpumlwana
7 min read
ECONOMIC TRANSFORMATION

Economic transformation in the country is unfolding at a snail’s pace

South Africa faces slow economic transformation, highlighted by a 32.7% unemployment rate and just 6.9% black ownership in its 60 largest listed companies. Speakers at the Top…

  • Brian Sokutu
5 min read
The IDC should establish an independent forum to address employee relations issues. Photo: -File
ECONOMIC TRANSFORMATION

Editorial: IDC decline should be arrested

Let us be fair: allegations of a deteriorating corporate culture within the institution remain just that—allegations—until proven otherwise. However, the issues presented to us…

  • Editorial
2 min read
South African Communist Party general secretary Solly Mapaila
2026 ELECTIONS

SACP to endorse decision to campaign alone for 2026 local government elections

The party will hold a special policy conference to decide on how to reconfigure its longstanding alliance with the ANC

  • Mandisa Makgakga
4 min read
Former Western Cape Judge President and current uMkhonto weSizwe party leader in parliament, John Hlophe, at the swearing-in ceremony of MK party members at Good Hope Chamber on June 25, 2024 in Cape Town. (Photo by Brenton Geach/Gallo Images via Getty Images)
ACCOUNTABILITY

Hlophe says GNU has failed citizens and puts elites first

The government of national unity has betrayed the trust of South African citizens, according to the uMkhonto weSizwe deputy president

  • Mandisa Makgakga
5 min read
Charmaine Mabuza, ITHUBA CEO.
BRIDGING THE ECONOMIC DIVIDE
Video

Transforming lives: The impact of quality education in South Africa

Since 1999, ITHUBA’s Scholarship programme has supported more than 300 young South Africans in pursuing tertiary education

  • Charmaine Mabuza
3 min read
With its roots in the country’s post-apartheid era, broad-based BEE has been a flashpoint of debate, hailed by some as a vital tool for economic transformation and denounced by others as a flawed instrument of racial preference.
ANC

What various coalition scenarios could mean for broad-based BEE

As the political horse trading begins, the fate of the controversial policy is uncertain

  • Siseko Maposa
4 min read
Rands and sense: African Bank chief executive Kennedy Bungane says it is on target to realise its aim of being a broad-based black bank, set out nearly 60 years ago. (Delwyn Verasamy/M&G)
ABSIP

Black ownership in banking sector remains low

African Bank’s open listing offers a good example of how direct black ownership in the financial services sector can rise above the stubborn 25% minimum agreed upon by the…

  • Polo Leteka-Radebe
7 min read
True mentorship is not about hierarchy. It’s about co-creation. Photo: File
B BBEE

Is B-BBEE an anchor for democracy?

Empowering the poor should be what underlies every debate and policy adopted in South Africa

  • Monde Ndlovu
5 min read
Many people lack reliable electricity, clean water and adequate housing. When the state fails to provide these services, rights such as dignity, equality and access to healthcare are undermined. (Delwyn Verasamy/M&G)
BBBEE

An inconvenient truth: Virus presents symptoms of socio-economic injustice

The speed at which substantial wealth was given shows that investment in transformation and justice does not enjoy the same humanitarian response

  • Sorayah Nair
9 min read
Light bulb: Finance Minister Tito Mboweni has a plan to fix Eskom without people losing their jobs. (Brenton Geach/Gallo Images)
ECONOMIC TRANSFORMATION

Light at the end of Eskom tunnel?

The treasury has mooted selling the utility’s coal-fired stations, but this doesn’t mean privatisation

  • Kevin Davie
7 min read
Panelists Sonja De Bruyn, MD, Identity Partners; Sylvia Chahonyo, Country Manager for Moody’s SA; Busi Mavuso, COO, Business Leadership SA; with Arthur Kamp, chief economist, Sanlam Investment Management
CYRIL RAMAPHOSA

Putting Thuma Mina into action

SMMEs require collateral to get going and thrive: trust is the key

  • Tamsin Oxford
3 min read
(Graphic: John McCann)
BLSA

Financial sector gets wake-up call

Following several reports, it has again been criticised for not transforming enough

  • Thulebona Mhlanga
4 min read
Street hawkers sell their wares to passing pedestrians on a road near the headquarters of the South African Reserve Bank in Pretoria.
ECONOMIC TRANSFORMATION

SACP won’t back ‘radical looting’

The general secretary has lashed out at those in the ANC who have a ‘Guptarisation’ agenda

  • Dineo Bendile
  • Staff Reporter
4 min read
After his resignation
ECONOMIC TRANSFORMATION

Editorial: The poor are used in the economic and power war

The politics surrounding transformation obfuscate the urgency of South Africa’s socioeconomic malaise.

  • Editorial
3 min read