AfriForum: Chief Justice Mogoeng’s statements regarding JSE inaccurate 

20 July 2019

AfriForum expressed its concern with the inaccurate racial comments made by Chief Justice Mogoeng Mogoeng regarding ownership of the JSE. These inaccuracies require clarification.

Mogoeng said on 17 July 2019 that it is an injustice that indigenous people are being left out while 85% of companies listed on the JSE belong to white people. This statement is incorrect, divisive and misleading. As Nickey Newton-King, CEO of the JSE, pointed out in 2017 already, the JSE was 23% black owned, 22% white owned, and 40% foreign owned. To claim that 85% of the JSE is owned by white people is therefore inaccurate and harms South African race relations. There is also no data about the races of the foreign investors in the JSE, further invalidating Mogoeng’s statement.  

“Inaccurate information of this nature regarding a minority group is very dangerous, breeds animosity and creates division. AfriForum finds it lamentable that a chief justice can so easily cite inaccurate statistics when it comes to such nuanced matters”, says Ernst van Zyl, Campaign Officer at AfriForum.

AfriForum emphasises that, as Chief Justice, Mogoeng should display objectivity and an unbiased perspective on South African issues. However, his statements demonstrate a clear political bias in his views. It is important that South Africans in positions of power do not normalise the scapegoating of minority groups, and always confirm statistics of this nature before citing them.

Issued by Carina Bester, Media Relations Officer, AfriForum, 20 July 2019