BBBEE compliance linked to stronger business performance, study finds

As President Cyril Ramaphosa defends B-BBEE as an investment in sustainable growth, a study by the Black Management Forum (BMF) also suggests that companies that take compliance seriously are seeing the benefits.

In his State of the Nation debate response, Ramaphosa insisted BBBEE has an important role in South Africa, although parties like the DA and FF Plus consistently called for it to be scrapped.

Ramaphosa's comments coincide with the release of a joint study by the BMF and Henley Business School Africa examining how B-BBEE is viewed in the corporate space.

Monde Ndlovu, Managing Director of the BMF, says one of the key findings challenges the narrative that BBBEE automatically damages business confidence.

"Amongst companies that are more compliant with BBBEE, there is a more positive perception of the impact of BBBEE on business performance.

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"Where you see more diverse teams, where you see more diverse businesses... in fact, they even perform better financially, and these are part of global studies as well."

Ndlovu says that if, in 2026, a company has low levels of BBBEE compliance, it means it is inherently not changing.

"They are not contributing to skills management, contributing to management control and socio-economic development, which means they are actually staying the same and not embracing the change."

The study shows that when it comes to market access, staff complement, skills development and sales, it is BBBEE-compliant companies who score highest, says Ndlovu.

"You'll find more Black people in there, which means there are better economic opportunities."

Citing Standard Bank as an example, Ndlovu says companies that have embraced transformation and impacted their own staff complement have benefited from BBEE.

To listen to Ndlovu on CapeTalk, use the audio player below: