Dylan Bettencourt
President Cyril Ramaphosa is appointing a council to overhaul broad-based black economic empowerment (BBBEE).
Ramaphosa explained in his weekly letter to the nation that he has appointed the council to establish measures that BBBEE can take to further improve black involvement in the South African economy.
The 69-year-old president said that black management control, the broadening of procurement and skills development are the areas that need improving.
“Economic transformation and economic growth are intertwined. There cannot be one without the other,” he said.
Ramaphosa said that with the end of apartheid, black ownership of companies on the Johannesburg Stock Exchange was less than 1%.
The president said that this figure had “not improved much” in the past 28 years.
In fact, Ramaphosa claimed that South Africa has gone backwards in terms of black involvement in the economy.
“We have gone backwards when it comes to increasing black management control, upscaling skills development, entrenching enterprise development and broadening procurement to give opportunities to black women and the youth,” he said.
Ramaphosa said that the appointed council is made up of government, business, labour and other stakeholders.
“This report emanated from an extensive study into the structure of the South African economy, and what was needed to transform the economy, grow black entrepreneurship, ensure greater black management and ownership of businesses, and bring black women into the mainstream of the economy.
“Next year, it will be two decades since the Broad-Based Black Economic Empowerment (BBBEE) Act – which established the council – was passed.”
Ramaphosa said the improvement of black involvement in the economy is crucial to South Africa’s recovery from Covid-19.
“It is, after all, the South African public that are the primary consumers of their goods and services. This should be reflected in diversity of hiring and management practices, in ownership and in procurement,” he said.
Image source: @TheEconomicTimes
