South Africa’s minister of finance Enoch Godongwana has made the right decision with his new procurement rules that empower state owned enterprises (SOEs) to set their own black economic empowerment (BEE) prequalifying criteria. BEE procurement rules have been instrumental in the hampering of the performance of SOEs. Clearly, President Cyril Ramaphosa’s government recognizes this, to an extent.
The BEE policy has been disastrous as many have argued, from author and political analyst Moeletsi Mbeki, to Dr. Anthea Jeffrey of the South African Institute of Race Relations, to London’s famous global magazine, The Economist.
Since its establishment in the 1990s, BEE has been seen by many in the country as a policy fundamental to the uplifting of black people who were disadvantaged before 1994. The intentions of BEE during its founding were exactly that – the upliftment of black people. It was a noble idea. But it has failed….
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