Business ownership remains a contentious issue for larger European manufacturers with operations in South Africa, since ceding 51% ownership is just not an option – but it also means they are out of the running for many government tenders.
According to the European Union (EU) Chamber of Commerce and Industry in Southern Africa, an increasing number of tenders by stateowned companies (SOEs) include a requirement of 51% black ownership for their suppliers.
“This is becoming a major barrier to trade,” said Stefan Sakoschek, regional chair of the chamber. “The EU Chamber fully supports continued economic transformation in South Africa through B-BBEE but one also has to take cognizance of the fact that a company listed in Europe – be it Frankfurt or Paris or London – is not going to cede 51% of its shares simply to get 25 points on a score card.”
He said many European companies wanted to invest in South Africa and were committed to seeing transformation happen – but the new B-BBEE rules were making it very difficult for them to operate.
He said with so much uncertainty over the new ownership scorecard there were several companies that had put investments on hold.
