Black CEOs are being excluded from business because companies see them as useful only to curry political favour. Research into the executive make-up of the top 40 companies in the country reveals the lack of transformation.The 2015 Jack Hammer Executive Report says the number of black CEOs has declined in the past three years, from 15% of all the CEOs at the 40 companies to 10%.Debbie Goodman-Bhyat, CEO of the recruitment company that conducted the research, said that, although a small change in the number of CEOs in these companies would create these figures, the important issue was that the percentage of black CEOs had not increased."There is just a maintenance of the status quo," she said.Goodman-Bhyat said the data suggested that executive transformation was likely to remain peripheral for the next five to 10 years. The reason for this was that, though there were black executives in very senior positions, only 10% of them were on the path to becoming a CEO.The CEOs of the top 40 companies had historically emerged from core business roles within the corporation, she said. According to their research, only 10% of black executives had core business experience.Institute of Race Relations CEO Frans Cronje said this was reflective of business culture in South Africa. Though many companies had signed up to the notion of BEE without knowing what they were signing up to, there were many that had signed up cynically, claiming to be in favour of empowerment policies but without a genuine commitment to change business environments."Businesses signed up thinking they could manipulate the outcomes, knowing the inputs were never there to deliver the results they had committed to [and] fully aware that the skills base was unlikely to make success possible."Cronje said big business had not been making the necessary investments in education and growth- focused policies."They have not committed because they are not prepared to take a hard stand on policy issues such as growth and education, which are necessary to create the economic opportunities for more black executives to enter the economy."Business has been very silent on critical issues. Once you sign up to the political agenda of BEE you cannot be absent from the political debate," he explained.Businesses had signed up to BEE policies in their own short-term material interests, not with "long-term commitments to changing the country".Black executives were not being given the same responsibilities as their colleagues," he said."This is happening not just in 10 companies but hundreds. I have the distinct impression that exclusion is occurring," Cronje said.Political analyst Shadrack Gutto said the structure of the economy had to be reviewed."We have to start by looking at corporations and how many of the top 40 companies are really South African or [are] subsidiaries of international companies."This might make it clearer why there is no progress in the escalated promotion of black people into executive positions.The government had both succeeded and failed in its BEE policies, Gutto said."The failures are around those who are politically connected rather than those who are simply black and talented. This considerably reduces the pool from which companies draw top executives as the pool of talent is politically narrow."Companies are looking at the politically connected network instead of the entire pool of black talent, experience and ability."Alan Mukoki, CEO of the SA Chamber of Commerce and Industry, said not enough attention was being paid to the entire "reservoir" of executive talent."You cannot have a situation where companies are recirculating executives between organisations."There is no concerted effort to take transformation seriously enough. It seems like it is a grudge decision to comply with BEE policies," he said.The Black Management Forum said its research supported what the Jack Hammer report had found.The number of black managers was declining, said forum president Bonang Mohale.The full Jack Hammer report will be published later in the year...