A South African Institute of Chartered Accountants (Saica) survey has found leaders of listed companies are still predominantly old, white and male, but that boards are on track to change colour and gender balances significantly. The annual survey, which examined 413 companies across all sectors on the JSE and AltX, released last week, showed 27.1% of directors under 50 years of age were female, up from 25.1% last year. It also found 40.1% of black board members are under 50. However, the report did not specify the fraction of black directors on boards. In June, the Black Management Forum (BMF) rebuked MTN for appointing a white CEO to replace Sifiso Dabengwa, who resigned after MTN was fined $5.2bn for failing to disconnect unregistered SIM-cards in Nigeria. BMF president Mncane Mthunzi has said the appointment represents a "clear reversal of black representation in top JSE-listed companies", resulting in a decline in the number of black South African CEOs. But Saica said there was...
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