'Unambitious, underwhelming': Shareholders slam FirstRand's female representation targets

FirstRand shareholders want to see more women at the executive and board levels. They also want the banking group's leadership to buy more shares in the company to better align their interests with that of shareholders.

During the group's annual general meeting (AGM) on Thursday, shareholders from the activist group, Just Share, argued that the group's target of 33% female representation in top management was "unambitious" to begin with. FirstRand didn't meet that target last year, however. It got to 25%.

"Given that more than 60% of the group's workforce is female, this is an unambitious and somehow underwhelming target," said Just Share's Kwanele Ngogela.