Cape Flats JSE writer Phakamisa Ndzamela in conversation with former Brimstone executive Laurie Brozin
At a time when black economic empowerment is increasingly being reduced to elite enrichment, Cape Flats for JSE One intentionally enters the conversation as a counter-narrative.
The Johannesburg launch, held at Exclusive Books in Rosebank on Thursday, presented the book not just as a history of the company, but as an intervention into how South Africa is remembered and debated. b bbee.
Author Phakamisa Ndzamela His intentions were clear. The book challenges the dominant narrative that portrays empowerment as a failed project that benefits only the politically connected few.
Instead, it uses the rise of Brimstone Investment Corporation Arguing for a more layered understanding of how empowerment manifested in practice.
Brimstone, founded in 1995 by Mustaq Bray, Fred Robertson and Rashid Seria, is presented as a case study of an alternative model. From modest beginnings, the company became one of the country's longest black-controlled firms on the JSE, building a portfolio in sectors including fishing, health care and financial services.
But the buzz at the launch made it clear that this is no ordinary success story.
Ndzamela originated the book from his postgraduate research in business history, where he struggled to find black-owned companies with sufficient archival material to support rigorous analysis.
Brimstone stood out because it kept records, minutes, and institutional documents, allowing its trajectory to be reconstructed with unusual depth.
The lack of documentation is central to the book's contribution. Without recorded history, the story of black business has either been reduced to anecdote or dominated by a narrow set of high-profile deals that have come to define public perception.
In that sense, the value of Cape Flats for JSE This lies not only in the story it tells, but also in the record it creates, offering a rare, evidence-based account of how a black-controlled company was created, financed, and sustained over time.
Ndzamela also situated the story geographically. The Cape Flats, often portrayed through a lens of crime and deprivation, has been reimagined as a site of entrepreneurial activity. He said, “A kid from the Cape Flats should know that the Cape Flats is not just about guns and cars, there is also entrepreneurship there.”
In conversation with a former Brimstone executive Laurie BrozinThe discussion moved into the mechanics behind that narrative. Brozin, who joined the company in 1996, described an early environment built on risk, limited capital, and a reliance on relationships rather than formal funding structures.
Investors often backed the founders themselves, he said, rather than a fully formed business proposal. Deals were built on trust, reputation and a willingness to take calculated risks in an uncertain market. “We played hard. We created chances. And we supported each other,” he said.
The emphasis on faith was not accidental. In a context where capital was scarce and formal systems were still developing, relationships became the basic framework through which deals were made. Brozin suggested that regardless of the legal framework, the success of a transaction often depends on the credibility of the individuals involved.
The book also complicates the narrative that empowerment has created entrepreneurs from scratch. Brimstone's founders entered the post-apartheid economy with prior experience.
Bray was a chartered accountant, Robertson had a career in insurance and education, and Ceria had a background in journalism and activism. Ndzamela uses this to argue that empowerment and entrepreneurship are not mutually exclusive, but that policy often enables existing entrepreneurial capacity to be enhanced.
He also tried to refute the claim that only a narrow elite benefited from B-BBEE. His research into Brimstone's shareholdings revealed that black investors on the Cape Flats owned approximately two million shares, in addition to another two million through the Brimstone Empowerment Share Trust.
For Ndzamela, this indicates a level of involvement that is often overlooked. Yet the discussion did not dismiss widespread criticism. Ndzamela acknowledged that inequality persists and that not all beneficiaries of empowerment are broad-based.
He argued that wealth concentration is a feature of capitalism itself, rather than being unique to B-BBEEs. Brozin's description of the deal-making reinforced that disparity. Many leveraged transactions were highly leveraged and dependent on market conditions.
Some gave significant returns. Others collapsed, forcing companies to suffer losses and under pressure to meet obligations.
He spoke openly about failed deals and financial stress, emphasizing that company survival depends on honoring commitments, even if investments are not performing. He suggested that internal cohesion matters as much as strategy.
The conversation also turned to the future of B-BBEE. Ndzamela argued that given its legislative foundations and the structural inequalities it was designed to address, the framework was unlikely to collapse. However, he acknowledged that it would need to evolve.
As the first generation of empowered founders reaches retirement age, companies will face decisions about how to unlock value and transfer ownership without destabilizing the businesses they built.
Additionally, changes in the economy, including pressure on groups to consolidate and emerging opportunities in sectors such as energy, are likely to reshape the landscape.
Brozin suggested the model needed improvement, particularly in expanding ownership to employees and those directly involved in manufacturing businesses.
The picture that emerged from the launch defies easy categorization. The book challenges the major criticisms of B-BBEE, but does not dismiss its failings. Instead, it suggests that the absence of documented black business history has limited the way empowerment can be understood, making both its successes and its limitations partially visible.
Cape Flats for JSE Does not resolve the debate surrounding B-BBEE. Its value lies in reopening it with evidence, offering a grounded account that complicates both celebration and dismissal, and putting on record a story that otherwise would have remained anecdotal.