Abstract
M.Comm.
South Africa's new political dispensation has indicated that it regards unbundling of
conglomerates and antitrust policy as appropriate means to ensure black empowerment and create wealth among the victums of the apartheid-era. Unbundling will however not necessarily aid the distribution of wealth due to the existing shareholder structure in the country. The creation of an entrepreneural class is seen as an effective means to alleviate the jobless problem and empower the masses, but will be difficult to establish without help from government, and more importantly, big business.
PURPOSE
The main purpose of this study is to investigate the causes of bundling and current
business size and how black empowerment and wealth creation can be addressed
through new structures.
METHOD OF STUDY
In this study information was obtained from existing literature sourced from the
Congress of South African Trade Unions, Small Business Development Corporation,
investment community, Business Periodical Index and libraries at Rand Afrikaans
University and University of South Africa.
FINDINGS
The historic reasons for current business size are essentially the same as those in the
rest of the world, with the exception that politics played a major role in South Africa.
The exclusion of certain population groups led to political instability and the
sanctions-era, which increased the tendency for big business to bundle or form
conglomerates. Evidence exists that unbundling will not create wealth by distributing
ownership of companies but could in fact only benefit existing shareholders. Black
empowerment and wealth creation can be established by the forming of new
pyramid-structures and the creation of an entrepreneural class with help from
existing conglomerates and government. South Africa is part of the international
economic environment and needs big businesses in order to be competitive. Small
businesses on the other hand can be utilized to address the unemployment problem
especially in rural areas. Conglomerates can assist small businesses with mangement
and finance which should prove to be a better alternative in the long run than
unbundling.