Five charts on why SA’s big four banks are in Zuma’s sights
At every bank, CEO compensation is growing faster than profits, begging questions about bloated boards and financial efficiency
SA’s four biggest banks, criticised by President Jacob Zuma for doing too little to boost black participation in their companies, haven’t done themselves any favours. In the past decade, three boards have backslid on racial diversity and none of them reflects the country’s demographics. Of SA’s population of 56-million people, about 81% are black Africans, 8.1% are white and the rest are Indian, Asian or Coloured, who were also discriminated against during apartheid. "Our board is representative of the pan-African nature of our business and our international shareholding," Barclays Africa Group said in an e-mailed response to questions, referring to its London-based parent, which is cutting its stake in the company. "The Barclays divestment is likely to result in changes to our board. Both our chairman and CEO are women." Banks are not alone. Across domestic industries, whites hold more than 68% of top management positions in the private sector, while blacks have 14%, according to D...
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