The history of BEE and where those first BEE deals are now?

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GUEST - Duma Gqubule - Research associate at the Social Policy Initiative



In 1994, the ANC went to the general elections with a blueprint that was called the Reconstruction and Development Programme (RDP), which said:

“The domination of business activities by white business and the exclusion of black people and women from the mainstream of economic activity are causes for great concern for the reconstruction and development process. A central objective of the RDP is to deracialise the economy completely, through focused policies of black economic empowerment.”



From 1996 to 2022, there were 1 045 black economic empowerment (BEE) transactions on the JSE that were worth R668 billion, according to an analysis of the Ernst & Young annual reviews of mergers and acquisitions during the 1990s and the Dealmakers database after 2000.
12 Jun 2025 3PM English South Africa Business News · Investing

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