Black Faces, White Wealth: The Illusion of Change in Post-Apartheid South Africa

Three decades after apartheid, South Africa’s economy remains in the hands of the few—while transformation policies serve the elite and leave the majority behind.

Transformation—the one word in South Africa that has been buried in a great deal of nuance. On one hand, it is the undoing of the oppressive racial and economic system of apartheid, which excluded people on the basis of race. On the other hand, it is the vehicle that has been used to enrich and empower a few—now being weaponized against South Africans on a daily basis.

There is no hiding that the Democratic Alliance and the African National Congress disagree on the way forward in redressing the injustices of the past. For the ANC, socialism has been championed and forwarded in the 7th administration through the BELA Bill and the NHI Act, which aim to provide excluded individuals access to basic services and education. The Expropriation Act aims to resolve land that was forcibly taken from Black South Africans during apartheid and reuse it to aid the government in developing housing and land use cases to benefit civil society. These initiatives root themselves at the core of the ANC—a movement that promised improved political and economic environments for all South Africans.

The DA, however, having watched the transformation mission the ANC has championed, has called it into question after years of ineffectiveness and corruption have dominated empowerment acts. BEE, having been used as a vehicle to forward corruption and create billionaires, has failed to improve the lives of the many. Unemployment has continued to rise, and inequality has continued on the same path. The 30 years of promised transformation have failed and are deemed no longer valuable.

Now the focus ought to be on jobs and growth. Transformation is seen as a hindrance to this utopian economic plan that suddenly garners investment once race laws are no longer implemented. Investment from foreign companies would flood in, as race is considered the major stumbling block in attracting companies and foreign investment.

Where the argument ought to be considered is that the same onslaughts that have been brought against DEI in the United States of America are likely to come from the same business interests who would opt to come to South Africa. Elon Musk stated that Starlink limitations had been due to BEE laws, which cited a need for 30% Black ownership in the company. It cannot be far-fetched to believe there is validity in this argument.

However, this is where the country needs to separate two major issues: legislative claims granted to marginalised communities versus the failure of the state to execute and implement them. Yes, corruption has been horrible and has gutted the state—but it has not removed the legislative laws that companies ought to follow. It has not removed the accountability and pressure that remains on companies to further the integration of South Africans.

The frank reality is that South Africa remains economically unchanged from 1994. Businesses that were under a great deal of pressure due to sanctions continue to operate under the same shareholders. They have dealt with no consequences or inquiry into how they funded and benefited from the machinery of apartheid. They never had to redistribute their wealth.

Yes, though this appears contradictory due to the new Black faces that take over key CEO positions at major corporations, on net average, the lives of Black people in South Africa have only worsened. It has worsened at the hands of the ANC. Though they may have been given access to basic services they were not requesting but rightfully deserving of, families across the country continue to lose more value and have fewer opportunities to participate in the economy than ever before.

BEE benefits approximately 15% of the Black population, with a small group of beneficiaries having their way at the cost of the many—which does nothing to address the rest of the country who fought and participated in the same struggle. It further highlights how little progress South Africa has truly made.

Look further at employment numbers: the most disproportionately affected groups remain the same as they were in apartheid South Africa. The unemployment rate was 37.6% among Black South Africans and 7.9% among white South Africans, according to the statistics agency. It was 23.3% among South Africans of mixed race. While comparable to the end of apartheid in 1994, the rates remain the same; white South Africans hover around 4%, while the unemployment rate for Black Africans is significantly higher, at 26%. This depicts a story of collective survival but overburdened Black South Africans.

When it comes to the Employment Equity Act, which aims to set targets for companies to ensure the mission of transformation is pushed into the private sector, resistance remains strong. Just by viewing management statistics: in the private sector, white people occupied 65.9% of top management-level posts, while Black people occupied 13.8% in 2022, according to South Africa's Commission for Employment Equity. South Africa's population of 64 million is about 8% white. They continue to hold a stronghold on the economy and management in this country—thus there is a serious need for a government-led call to action.

By no means is anyone advocating for the hiring of any underqualified individual into a company or institution, but rather a consideration: when two candidates meet the same requirements, that one is placed due to historical injustices and systemic biases.

The DA took the ANC to court over the Employment Equity Act amendment, aiming to claim that bias does not exist and that everyone is so good-hearted they can set their own targets. But it must always be remembered that transformation was never welcomed in South Africa, because decoding bias does not happen overnight—but over generations.

If the old guard—the rich and wealthy who have enjoyed the spoils and the environments of an old South Africa—are left unchecked, transformation will continue to be a debate rather than a way of thinking, and something in dire need of being executed.

Throughout history, they are quick to cite that 87% of the land was owned by a minority population of 20% white South Africans, segregating the remainder to 13% for Black South Africans. Yet, when it comes to the economy, we do not ask ourselves the same…