Compliance fatigue and unclear outcomes under the broad-based black economic Empowerment policy have been highlighted by business leaders at the Nedbank Top Empowerment Conference. They emphasised that there was an urgent need for tangible inclusion results. While the affirmative action policy was broadened in 2011, from targeted share transfer ownership to wider socio-economic transformation, including women and youth, slow economic growth has resulted in growing scepticism over its effectiveness. Speaking at the conference Mziwabantu Dayimani, the National Empowerment Fund CEO, said that even though there
was broad agreement on the need for transformation, divisions arose about its implementation. “If you implement transformation correctly, you will have economic growth as a larger share of the population becomes economically active,” he said. Dayimani emphasised the importance of accountability in how resources were deployed and suggested that voluntary compliance mechanisms should be reviewed. The public debate about why the policy had lagged was misunderstood. “When it comes to the B-BBEE narrative, the loudest voices are often those against transformation. We need to change
that.” Mbali Phewa, the Nedbank executive head of transformation, said that what was often described as transformation fatigue was, in reality, compliance fatigue. “Organisations feel fatigued when there are no visible outcomes.” Phewa said Nedbank had shifted from viewing transformation as a compliance requirement to treating it as a growth imperative. Through the Youth Employment Service programme, the bank had created 17 000 job opportunities for young people. “Tangible outcomes help transformation regain credibility,” she said, adding that no single intervention could resolve systemic challenges
and that institutions should focus on strengthening systems. “Transformation becomes vulnerable when it sits at the periphery of a business cycle,” she said, posing the question: “What would the cost be if transformation were to fail?” Tishalan Pillay, the executive director for sales, marketing and distribution at ASI Finance, said the conversation had moved beyond scorecard targets towards measurable outcomes. “Transformation should not be separate from business operations,” she said, noting that organisations often resisted what they perceived as overcompliance. “If organisations start to see
transformation not as a cost but as a strategic imperative, it changes the conversation around the cost of B-BBEE,” he said. Employment and Labour Minister Nomakhosazana Meth described the Employment Equity Act as the most significant labour equity reform in a decade. “B-BBEE is not designed to punish business but to empower talent,” she said. Meth rejected the argument that transformation was unaffordable. “Countries that align transformation with their demographic profile do well. The fact that our economy is growing at less than 1% does
not mean transformation is unaffordable; it reflects that transformation has been slow.” She said public procurement was one of the most effective tools for redistributing economic opportunity. Lucretia Khumalo, the divisional executive for customer support and growth at the Industrial Development Corporation (IDC), said compliance alone was insufficient. “We must ask whether we are creating real economic participation or merely the impression of it. Transformation is not failing; it is being tested. This is not the time to abandon the progress made.” Khumalo cautioned against
prioritising form over substance, noting that the IDC had invested R15 billion in energy projects, with private capital following in multiples. “That is what catalytic finance looks like in practice.” She said development finance institutions and commercial banks should act as partners rather than competitors.“Blended finance, when structured well, is not charity; it is leverage.” Shadi Chauke, the Sanlam group executive for corporate affairs and sustainability, said access was only the starting point. “What matters is what comes next, inclusion that is lived, not legislated.”
Chauke said Sanlam had created R17bn in BEE value, including R5.6bn invested in small and medium enterprises and R8bn in black-owned SMEs. “This shows that impact and investment discipline can reinforce one another rather than compete.” She said the question was not whether transformation was working but whether it was being delivered at the scale, speed and depth required. German More, the director of new business development and communications at Save the Children, said transformation must ultimately be measured by its impact on children. “Are
companies investing in early childhood development, such as literacy, nutrition and reading for meaning from Grade R to Grade 4?” He said employee share ownership schemes and broader empowerment initiatives ultimately benefited children through improved household stability and access to opportunities. “Transformation is not transformation if it does not change the lives of children.”
B-BBEE, compliance fatigue, transformation, Nedbank Top Empowerment Conference, National Empowerment Fund, Youth Employment Service, Employment Equity Act, public procurement, catalytic finance, blended finance, Sanlam, IDC, Save the Children