Ryan Swano
In 2025, South Africa entered the fourth decade of its democracy. Yet democracy has not yet delivered on creating a more equal society, South Africa faces staggering inequality. Unemployment sits at 33%—with youth joblessness above 46%—while over 28 million people rely on social grants to survive. At the same time, South Africa boasts Africa’s most advanced financial system, where banks, corporations, and executives record soaring profits.
In this video, Katlego Msomi of Newroom Afrika spoke to Michael Marchant, Head of Investigations at Open Secrets.
Who Owns South Africa?
Open Secrets has launched a new investigative series titled Who Owns South Africa?. The series offers in-depth analysis of the powerful private interests that dominate large parts of the South African economy.
By examining both the broader system and key sectors, WOSA aims to reveal who truly controls the private sector. The first profile in the series The System: Money, Power, and Politics unpacks the foundations of South Africa’s political economy, exposing the forces that shape power and control in the country.
The System: Money, Power and Politics
This first profile in Open Secrets’ new series, Who Owns South Africa, authored by Michael Marchant & Cheriese Dilrajh, explores the deep structural divide between the fragile “bottom” and the powerful corporate “top.” The System: Money, Power and Politics reveals how concentrated private wealth, oligopolies, and corporate dominance continue to shape South Africa’s economy and politics, and asks what this means for the struggle to end inequality.
Directly Read Online or Download the first profile below.
WOSA – Chaper 1 – The System: Money, Power and Politics
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