Black economic empowerment still dominates the agenda at South Africa’s largest law firms. Do or die is the message, reinforced by the prospect of a controversial legal services charter that is looming. Sophie Evans reports from Johannesburg
Four years after passing the Broad-Based Black Economic Empowerment (BEE) Act 2003, this landmark legislation sits at the heart of what drives South Africa’s law firms. The transformation of the country’s companies, driven by the Government’s power to hand out work to companies that contribute to BEE, is taking hold at a time when demand for South Africa’s natural resources is at an all-time high – every business-class seat on a Johannesburg-bound plane is full nowadays, usually with people visiting in order to strike mining deals.
