Just over a quarter of South Africa’s mining companies have achieved the target of 40% black representation at management level, according to a 29-page draft five-year review of transformation in the country’s mining industry that was leaked to City Press Business.

Large mining companies, such as Anglo American, BHP Billiton and diamond giant De Beers, say that they have largely reached the Black Economic Empowerment (BEE) targets.

The country’s mining industry was found wanting in ‘almost all the key indicators of transformation such as black ownership, skills development, employment equity, preferential procurement, mining community upliftment, housing and living conditions and mining beneficiation’, reports City Press.

While the mining charter set the target of transferring ownership of 15% of mining companies to black South Africans by 2014, the ‘strictly confidential’ report found that just 9% of the industry was in black hands in 2010.

Due to the problems caused by the global financial crisis, the report’s authors suggest delaying the implementation of the above target by some 5 years, according to City Press, which notes that black economic empowerment deals worth R200 billion (US$27 billion) have been concluded.