Has the time come to ditch the behind-closed-doors engagement strategy preferred by institutional shareholders in SA? A few recent dramatic corporate events suggest it is.

It is important to remember these institutional shareholders are not investing on behalf of a relative handful of super-wealthy individuals; they invest for millions of middle-class workers and retirees. The distinction is significant: super-wealthy investors have easy access to super-wealthy individuals running our companies. Middle-class savers and pensioners do not...