Abstract

Ending economic apartheid

In South African politics and government, blacks now rule, incontrovertibly. But despite the fact that blacks are more than 80 percent of South Africa's population, black companies control only 8 percent of the equities listed on the Johannesburg Stock Exchange. If this seems unjust, it must be borne in mind that, only two years ago, black South Africans controlled less than 0.3 percent. Black economic empowerment is not just a trend, it's a boom. Perhaps the single most visible change in South African society since the transition to democracy has been the rapid emergence of a black bourgeoisie. The National Union of Metalworkers, the only major union to express skepticism about labor capitalism, has just formed its own investment company, with the caveat, though, that unions should accumulate capital in a more strategic and careful way.