Today, the figure has risen to 16.3 percent. A new generation of black tycoons has been created, including Ramaphosa, Moseneke and Sisulu, Nail's directors. This has the backing of the most farsighted representatives of big business. We owe an immense amount to Mandela. If it had not been for him, we would not have had the peaceful transition.
Some companies operate as joint ventures with white businesses.
Others fulfil government requirements by appointing one or two blacks to the board, allotting a slice of equity to a fledgling empowerment group and appointing a few black managers. Few black South Africans have money of their own to buy into such equity, so almost every empowerment deal has been built on debt. The shares are pledged as security for the loans used to buy them. This means that the SPVs depend for their success on continually rising share prices and moderate interest rates. In the context of the present economic instability, the banks are the real beneficiaries of black empowerment.