CORPORATE RESPONSIBILITY
White business must do more, says property mogul Marc Wainer
Real estate mogul Marc Wainer says white businesses need to contribute more to SA or risk repeating mistakes, such as when they fled Johannesburg’s inner city in the 1980s. At the SA Real Estate Investment Trust (Reit) conference held in Sandton, Gauteng, on Thursday, Wainer said while many white-run businesses had created wealth for shareholders and developed the country, they had not been charitable enough. Having a narrow view about business’s role in SA had actually destroyed value in some parts of the country. "I remember in the 1980s, [property investor] Gerald Leissner tried to save the Johannesburg CBD but so much investment left it and a lot of capital was lost. We can’t repeat a mistake like this and we can do more," he said. In 2017 Wainer — who, without a university education, founded R66bn diversified property group Redefine Properties — launched a mentorship programme, saying he could rally corporate SA to give their time and help to alleviate pressing problems harming...
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