Corporate governance in South Africa: from 'Old Boys Club' to 'Ubuntu'?

Abstract

Padayachee examines developments in the culture and practice of corporate governance largely within the private sector in South Africa. His analysis reveals the dominance of powerful individuals, family trusts and groups sharing common social, cultural, and linguistic norms, bound together outside the boardrooms thorough old school, club, societal, political, church, sports and other such networks. A sound corporate governance culture based on transparency and disclosure hardly existed before and during the apartheid era. Since 1994 and as South Africa opened up to global economic circuits and institutional rules and practices, there has been a much stronger commitment, at least nominally, to compliance with developments in global corporate governance. The King codes of corporate governance (now into version 3) are the strongest indication of this. South African companies have over the last 18 years shifted from an initial state (a management controlled, 'social club' approach to corporate governance) towards an Anglo-American corporate governance model, practising what is widely referred to as 'shareholder wealth maximization'. But Padayachee argues that the practice of this approach remains uneven, as large family networks (both old and new) still exercise significant influences in boardrooms.

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