# Regulatory Compliance Category > BEE and Employment Equity Forum >  Reunert empowerment deal criticised by union

## Dave A

An empowerment deal by electronics company Reunert that will see R465-million in shares allocated to four individuals has been labelled "uncontrollable greed and gluttony" by the National Union of Metalworkers of South Africa (Numsa).

The union is also threatening protest action by its members against the company and its subsidiary.

According to media reports, Reunert has transferred 2,8% of its shares to four businesswomen -- Cheryl Carolus, Wendy Lucas-Bull, Dolly Mokgatle and Thandi Orleyn, all shareholders of empowerment investment company Peotona.
full story from M&G here

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## Graeme

Reunert are only obeying the rules...........................  Do the unions seriously believe that Reunert _wanted_ to do this.  As a Reunert shareholder I am also p..... off.

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## Dave A

Venomous criticism of the Reunert deal is pouring forth from all quarters.

Here's one that pretty well sums things up pretty well:



> The advent of BEE or Black Economic Empowerment has certainly had a massive impact on South Africans. 
> As one would expect it has its fair share of supporters and detractors and has certainly stirred up a hornets nest in: the press, particularly the domain of columnists always on the prowl for contentious column content; chats at cocktail parties; deliberations in boardrooms; the machinations of shareholder activists (most notable at present being the pontificating of the Public Investment Commission) ; civil service parlance and parliamentary debates; aspirations of the trade union movement; the idle banter of commuters and the office chit chat of the employed. 
> 
> It has manifest itself into the consciousness of the public in many ways, but the overwhelming feeling seems to one of disgust that, as fellow Fin24 columnist, Marc Hasenfuss wrote on Monday: "BEE has become a contentious subject in recent months with certain deals looking like blatant opportunism for a fortunate few rather than providing opportunities for the disadvantaged masses." 
> 
> At its inception there was a generally warm feeling towards BEE from the nation as a whole. Most people naively believed, as I did, that the objective was to give South Africans the impetus for a huge leap forward that would empower as many people as possible by drawing them into the economy; providing the skills and education so essential in expanding the workforce; providing safe, comfortable and efficient public transport; bringing sanity and safety to the taxi industry and its passengers; providing community centres with activities for the youth and day care facilities for the children of working parents; and so on and so forth. 
> 
> Well if this was even part of the intention it has failed miserably.
> 
> ...

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## Graeme

Reunert - BEE

Of the shares allocated to BEE, Carolus, Mokgatie, Orleyn and Lucas-Bull have received 30%.    The other 70%  goes to the Rebatona Educational Trust which will provide further education and training to black youth in Mathematics, Science, English and Accountancy and will build on the success of the Reunert College.

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