Continuity and Distinction of Wealth Elites in Post-Apartheid South Africa: Mapping the Social Space of the Johannesburg Stock Exchange.

Abstract

This article provides the first systematic mapping of wealth elites on the Johannesburg Stock Exchange (JSE), using original data on individuals linked to significant shareholding entities rather than corporate executives. Through Multiple Correspondence Analysis and cluster analysis, we identify four elite formations shaped by race, gender, age, education, directorship networks and shareholder type. The results challenge accounts of elite diversification by showing the continued centrality of incumbent white male elites in key ownership structures. New Black and female entrants are incorporated into elite spaces, but largely through transformation-linked entities, public-sector ties, business-school credentials and dense directorship networks. The article contributes methodological and conceptual tools for analysing elite formation through ownership, particularly in post-apartheid and post-authoritarian contexts. It advances elite research by foregrounding ownership, organisational form and financial power as central to understanding inequality and elite reproduction in the Global South.