Absa's BEE headache

The bank has a challenging task with two appointments as they have to appease shareholders and lobby groups.

- Andile Ntingi

The goal of building an inclusive, demographically representative economy will for an exceptionally long time remain a challenge that many South African corporates will have to grapple with.What some perceive as inclusion can easily be viewed as exclusion by others, often creating a climate of distrust, fear, loathing, and sometimes serious corporate bust-ups.

While corporates always must find a balance between bringing previously excluded people (black people) onto their boards and executive teams, they equally must be careful of not being seen as engaging in reverse racism by people (white people) who historically benefitted from apartheid policies that economically disempowered black people.

Even though as a country we have employment equity laws to guide companies on implementing transformation in their workforces, from top to bottom, the task of implementing transformation is not an easy one.

Absa Bank recently found out how easily a company can be accused of being resistant to transformation or undermining black leadership.

In April, the bank came under the spotlight after it parted ways with its first black CEO in its history, Daniel Mminele, who had to step down a year into his tenure after he did not see eye to eye with a group of the executives and the board on the bank’s strategy.

The differences between Mminele and his colleagues were reported to be so intense that some executives threatened a walkout, setting the stage for Mminele’s departure.