South Africa's Department of Trade and Industry (DTI) said on Friday that it was concerned about trade union Solidarity's findings that black-economic empowerment (BEE) had led to significant increase in black ownership on the JSE and insurance policies.

Solidarity black empowerment head researcher Johan Kruger said that black ownership on the JSE increased by about 18% in the past 13 years.

"Black ownership on the JSE was at 23,8% in 2008, compared to the nearly 5% in 1993." Further, Solidarity expected that ownership would increase to as much as 34% by 2012.

However, the DTI said that these statistics did not address the issue of direct ownership, which was critical when measuring the level of transformation.

DTI BEE director Nomonde Mesatywa said that the it appeared that the survey only focused on measuring indirect ownership through pension funds, medical schemes and insurance polices.

In addition, she said that unlike the finding of Solidarity, government had agreed on a 40% benchmark in terms of measuring indirect ownership.

"In relation to the Solidarity findings of 23,8% it is still far below the 40% mark.

"Further, the actual direct ownership in the JSE listed companies is still encumbered, therefore it is premature to suggest that the implementation of BEE has contributed more to the development and promotion of a black middleclass than is recognised," she commented.

Mesatywa added that broad-based BEE (BBBEE) was about more than just ownership of the JSE and that other elements need to be considered. "We need to consider elements like employment equity, skills development, enterprise development, and procurement," she said.

The effective implementation of BBBEE must be measured holistically by using the balance scorecard of Codes of Good Practice. "Therefore, research on one element cannot presuppose that there has been sufficient empowered and that the lives of black people across the spectrum has significantly improved," she commented.

In February, at the inauguration of BBBEE advisory, deputy-president Kgalema Motlanthe said that the pace of transformation had been "painfully slow."

This statement had been amplified by a study commissioned by Business Unity South Africa that revealed equality in the upper echelons of corporate South Africa had not yet been achieved, as blacks and women continue to be under-represented in all directorships and top executive leadership positions of the JSE-listed companies.

The department noted that it would conduct a follow-up study to measure the impact of BBBEE, since the gazetting of the Codes of Good Practice three years ago.