South Africa seeks to reform faltering Black empowerment system

Workers are seen at a construction site of a housing estate, ahead of the interest rates announcement decision by the South African Reserve Bank, in Eikenhof, in the south of Johannesburg, South Africa, September 19, 2024. REUTERS/Siphiwe Sibeko/File Photo

JOHANNESBURG (Reuters) - The head of South Africa's flagship Black economic empowerment programme plans to introduce additional incentives and potential fines to improve corporate participation and curb exploitation of the system meant to tackle the country's gross inequality, he said.

The African National Congress, which had ruled unchallenged for 30 years until it lost its parliamentary majority in May elections, is under intense pressure to improve the lives of Black people left disadvantaged by decades of white minority rule.