Publications
Partners
Cape Town – A second round of public hearings on transformation is under way in Parliament on Wednesday, where stakeholders will give input on progress made with black economic transformation according to the Financial Sector Charter codes, while others will point out aspects where real transformation is lacking.
The public hearings are hosted jointly by the standing committee on finance under the chairmanship of African National Congress MP Yunus Carrim and the portfolio committee on trade and industry with Joan Fubbs as chairperson.
Stakeholders to make submissions to MPs on Wednesday include the South African Reserve Bank, the Broad-Based Black Economic Empowerment commission, the National Credit Regulator, Nedbank and the Black Management Forum.
At the previous round of public hearings on March 14, three of South Africa’s three big banks – Barclays Africa Group, FirstRand and Standard Bank - explained how far they’ve come in meeting the targets set out in the Financial Sector Charter, while trade federation Cosatu and the South African Communist Party slammed the “interrelationship” between banks, the insurance sector and the asset management industry which keeps out smaller players and new entrants.
The ANC’s Fubbs concluded that despite 23 years since democracy, “little has changed” in the financial services sector.
She said it was clear from the day’s admissions that the top structure in the financial services sector remains white.
Democratic Alliance spokesperson on finance David Maynier said on the sidelines of the hearings that there is too little focus on the real challenge, which is extending financial services to the poor.
