Nearly three decades into democracy SA remains one of the most unequal countries in the world. In 2022 almost two thirds of top private sector managers were white South Africans, even though they make up only 8% of the population. Black Africans, nearly 80% of the country, held only 13.8%.
Almost three quarters of executives were men. These figures tell the story of a promise deferred. For millions of young South Africans entering the labour market, fairness and opportunity determine whether they can build a future at home or must look abroad. Transformation cannot be treated as a political checkbox; it is an ethical imperative, rooted in the constitution’s founding values of dignity, equality and nonracialism.
Yet true transformation goes deeper than demographics. Changing the faces in boardrooms without changing the culture and values of those boardrooms achieves only a token progress. SA businesses must reflect on whether changing who leads has been accompanied by a change in how they lead. Too often, corporate conduct has failed to break from the harsh attitudes of the past.
Human rights
Ethical leadership means embracing dialogue, respect and shared purpose instead of hierarchy and coercion. In a democratic SA businesses should cultivate values of dignity and inclusivity in the workplace, aligning with the constitution’s promise of human rights and social justice even within the private sector.
In light of this we must shift the conversation. Real empowerment is about investing in people, building skills and creating space for enterprise to thrive. SA ranks 132nd out of 169 countries on the World Bank’s Human Capital Index, a damning reflection of our underinvestment in education and health. By contrast, countries such as Mauritius and Kenya rank far higher. This gap is not destiny — it is the result of choices.
For decades we relied on a mineral enclave economy, extracting value for a small elite while neglecting the vast majority. As gold reserves decline, coal is phased out and platinum faces substitution, the risks of this model are clear. We need to modernise through digital innovation, vocational training and entrepreneurship so that growth is driven not by extraction but by unleashing human capital.
Encouragingly, SA already has world-class governance frameworks. The Companies Act and King IV Code call for a stakeholder model where boards serve not only shareholders but also workers, communities and the environment. Integrity, accountability and transparency are essential conditions for legitimacy in a democracy. Yet too often these principles remain confined to reports and policy statements. Annual filings boast of fairness, while executives hold undisclosed meetings with politicians or pursue narrow gain behind closed doors.
If the government is expected to operate openly, so should business. A deal worth making should be defensible in the court of public opinion. For example, mining companies now publish what they pay to governments across the globe — why shouldn’t SA firms disclose what they ask from government and why? Sunlight is the best antidote to suspicion and transparency strengthens both democracy and markets.
Growing inequality
We must also face the growing inequality within companies themselves. In SA CEOs often earn between 150 and 900 times the average worker’s salary. Put plainly, an executive can earn in a day what an employee earns in years. This kind of disparity erodes confidence in the idea that free markets reward merit. Policymakers are rightly moving to require disclosure of pay ratios, but companies should not wait for the law.
Voluntary limits on the gap between top and bottom pay, or a “Gini coefficient for business,” would show genuine commitment to dignity and fairness. When profits rise, sharing gains through bonuses or wage increases builds loyalty and productivity. In difficult times, executives who cut their own rewards before cutting jobs set the right example. Values are not abstract. They are visible in choices like these.
— The global economy is rapidly digitalising and greening. For SA these are opportunities to leapfrog old models.
Consider also the debate around the minimum wage. While concerns were raised about potential job losses, many companies adjusted and in some cases used the moment to rethink efficiency. The broader issue is how businesses respond to social and economic obligations: when workers are seen as partners rather than costs, the result is greater stability and trust. SA’s mining sector once showed that productivity gains could outpace wage growth when management and labour worked together in good faith. Extending that lesson across sectors would give young South Africans a more secure entry into the economy and reinforce the foundations on which businesses themselves rely.
However, values-driven leadership must also mean accountability at the top. Too often, performance-based pay has become a fiction: bonuses flow even when profits slump or workers are retrenched. This corrodes trust. Boards and shareholders must ensure that incentives reflect real outcomes and that executives are held accountable for ethical lapses as much as financial ones. If business is to play its role in building an inclusive economy, leadership must be visibly bound by the same standards of integrity that apply to every employee.
Excessive red tape
But values alone are not enough. Structural reforms are urgent. Excessive red tape chokes small businesses before they can grow. In SA registering a company can take weeks, while in places like Australia it takes days. Township entrepreneurs who keep local economies alive are often blocked by outdated bylaws. Simplifying rules, digitising processes and giving SMEs a real chance would unlock thousands of jobs.
Likewise, infrastructure is a foundation for inclusion. Roads, ports, energy and broadband are not political trophies, they are the playing field on which opportunity is built. When corruption or incompetence stalls delivery, it is the poor and unemployed who pay the price. Professionalising procurement and enforcing accountability in public projects is as vital for business confidence as it is for social justice.
We must also look ahead. The global economy is rapidly digitalising and greening. For SA these are opportunities to leapfrog old models. But if digital expansion excludes rural communities or if the green transition abandons coal-dependent towns, inclusion will remain a slogan. Instead, we should invest in digital skills from primary school, support youth-led innovation and ensure that communities dependent on old industries are helped to transition into new ones. Empowerment here should mean creating entire new sectors, be it in renewable energy, agro-processing or digital services, that offer jobs and growth. Real empowerment is measured by industries built and opportunities created, not by symbolic transactions.
Fortunately, the constitution provides the compass. Section 1 affirms nonracialism, nonsexism and human dignity as founding values. Section 9 allows remedial measures but insists they be rational and fair. Section 22 guarantees freedom of trade, occupation and profession. Together these provisions envision a society where opportunity is broad, merit is rewarded and dignity is respected. Policies that entrench elite privilege, stifle entrepreneurship or perpetuate racial division betray that vision. Policies that build skills, broaden ownership and unlock youth potential give it life.
We stand at an intersection where some argue for harsher quotas and deeper regulation and others argue for deregulation at any cost. Both extremes miss the point. The real path forward is a cautious reformism that aligns business incentives with constitutional values. Pragmatism, not ideology, must drive our economic reforms.
Ultimately, the central challenge is one of values. SA’s transition to democracy in 1994 was about more than changing laws and institutions. It was about transforming society’s ethos. We aspired to build a “good society” grounded in good values, a society that is not only nonracial and nonsexist but also genuinely fair, transparent and compassionate. In the political realm, this meant a commitment to human rights and accountable government. In the economic realm, it must mean businesses becoming partners in social progress.
To achieve it, our boardrooms must lead with values as much as with balance sheets. Profit with purpose, transformation with integrity and growth with fairness. This is the deal SA’s youth deserve.
• Joosub is manager: constitutional advancement at the FW de Klerk Foundation.
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