Black economic empowerment (BEE) continued at full speed last year, with the value of BEE transactions announced reaching a record high of R97bn.

Consulting group Ernst & Young captured 153 BEE transactions during the course of the year, which in value terms reflected a 70% improvement when compared with 2006 figures. The local office of international rating agency Moody's reported that the value of BEE transactions recorded in the past 10 years jumped to R200bn.

Companies listed on the JSE claim a significant portion of this BEE corporate activity, which directly affects the level of black ownership on SA's equities market. The level of direct black ownership on the JSE - often used as a national yardstick for BEE implementation- has been a sore point for some time. Hovering around the 5% mark, it has fuelled perceptions that SA's mainstream corporations were dragging their feet on BEE. In the light of the latest figures, that view has to be modified.

"Our current research reflects direct black ownership on the JSE at 13,3%," says Chia-Chao Wu, the executive director of BEE rating agency Empowerdex. "However, adjusting for the effects of the modified flow-through principle, which allows some non-BEE funders to be recognised as black, the more accurate level of direct black ownership on the JSE is estimated at between 8,9% and 10,6%."

Sasol weighed heavily in last year's BEE figures. The petrochemicals giant announced a transaction to transfer 10% of its shares to a broad-based consortium. The value is currently lying around the R30bn mark. Having brought in BEE stalwart Nolitha Fakude three years ago, Sasol has accelerated implementation.

Fakude says Sasol has fully embraced the transformation agenda. On top of the BEE deal, Sasol has implemented a remarkable shopfloor transformation plan. "We have also been able to make key appointments at senior management level," says Fakude. That has left the Sasol board of 15 people with eight black faces and 33% female representation. The group's executive team of 10 boasts 30% black representation and 20% female representation.

Among other highlights are a string of deals concluded by blue chip Anglo American, including a R3,3bn transaction involving the transfer of 1,5% of Anglo Platinum shares to staff.

Ratings agency Moody's concluded that a large percentage of SA corporations have now entered into ownership transactions: "BEE is driving and will continue to drive corporate activity for at least the next five years."

But the cost of capital has gone up dramatically over the past two years, and BEE deals will not escape the pressure.

"The storm clouds that were brewing over financial markets during 2007 finally broke in early 2008," says the Ernst & Young survey. M&A became one of the immediate casualties, as deal makers put transactions on hold while things settled.

BEE has gained substantial ground on the SA corporate agenda, says Wu. Five years ago there was hardly any mention of BEE, but now it features prominently in many annual financial statements. The implementation of the broad-based scorecard has helped BEE evolve from a competitive advantage to a competitive necessity, says Wu.