Black representation in South African business has progressed much further than is generally accepted, with black representation at top management level growing by 55.9% from 2001-2006, a report by union body Solidarity has argued.

According to the report - The Truth About Affirmative Action in South Africa - this growth in black representation at top management level has been accompanied by a 22% decline in white male representation.

The report sourced data from the South African Advertising Research Foundation, according to which black representation at senior management level increased from 8,766 to 28,658 between 1997 and 2006. During the same period, white representation fell from 30,876 to 22,758.

 South African exchange the JSE currently lists 24% black directors.

The Solidarity report suggests other studies of black representation have been skewed because there are year-on-year variations of between 30% and 195% in the number of employment equity reports submitted by employers. Only approximately 28% of reports come from the same employers, meaning that data sets are radically different and different years cannot be compared.