BEE trusts are generally badly run with a lack of quality control measures
While more than 80% of empowerment trusts have been running for more than 10 years, most have yet to set out proper policies and procedures
Empowerment trusts created by South African corporations are generally poorly run, research undertaken by Intellidex found.Of the JSE’s 100 largest companies, 35 have established black economic empowerment (BEE) foundations or trusts. Intellidex examined 25 of those.While more than 80% of trusts have been running for more than 10 years, most of them had yet to set out proper policies and procedures, lead researcher Graunt Kruger said.The required investment or finance committees to oversee risk management, governance and compliance had not been appointed."This is based on research of the charitable and community components set up as a consequence of BEE deals," Kruger said.Stuart Theobald, the co-founder and chair of Intellidex said: "When we calculate the value of deals, it comes to R37bn. We wanted to interrogate that number and understand how it’s been allocated."Intellidex has also compiled research on businesses’s investment strike and the Viceroy report on Steinhoff.
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