Yet, BEE is in crisis. And anyone who doubts this is in denial.

Would it not be in the nation’s interest for the Council to publicly pronounce its stance and counsel on how BEE is to be salvaged going forward as it is beset with so many embarrassing problems and may even appear destined to die a natural death?

The broad consensus that BEE as a concept is in trouble, hence the urgent need to treat it as such and pronounce on the antidote.

There is one of two things though: BEE can be left to die a natural death or it can be totally overhauled. There is no middle ground.

The BEE Advisory Council should come out and say what it is that it is telling the President. At least they owe it to us. 

The council is no Mickey Mouse body. It consists of a select group of cabinet ministers with respective Directors-General as alternates. Other councillors include a mix of trade unionists, academics, high- profile business people, community-based organisations and others as selected by the President.

The council is supposed to support the state president by:

Providing advice of government's BEE strategy

Providing advice on the implementation of the BEE Act

Executing any other function as requested by the president from time to time

So, these individuals are senior and high-profile enough to sit along- side the President at a press conference and address solutions to the major problems facing BEE.

Right now BEE is seen, particularly in black communities where poverty is rife, as no more than an “Elite Formation” designed to benefit the few by the ANC government which, in all honesty was never the intent. But that’s the perception and perception is real to those who perceive it.

The Advisory Council, alongside the President must pronounce a solution to these problems.

It must say for instance, why the broad- based approach is not working compared to other models and the President must announce his bold steps to tackle the “Elite Formation” problem because only he can do that as the custodian of the ruling party’s economic policy.

Fact of the matter is BEE, a very noble idea indeed, has produced an unintended consequence where a tiny few in the frontline of these deals have enriched themselves at the expense of the broad-base, which rarely derive any economic benefits from these transactions.

 In its BEE Strategy documents, the DTI acknowledges the fact that the accumulation process under apartheid confined the creation of wealth to a racial minority and imposed under-development on black communities.

“The result is an economic structure that today, in essence, still excludes the vast majority of South Africans.

It is crucial to understand the magnitude of what took place in our past to understand why we need to act together as a nation to bring about an economic transformation in the interest of all.

The vision of an economy that meets the needs of the people in an equitable manner prompted government to outline broad economic strategies to transform the economy by 2014.”

You see, just as the accumulation process under apartheid confined the creation of wealth to a white minority, the current BEE approach continues to confine wealth creation to a tiny black minority.

Furthermore, the economy is never going to transform in an equitable manner by 2014. It’s a pipe dream for as long as BEE remains in its current form.

We know it, the masses know it, market operators know it, the BEE Advisory Council knows it, Minister Rob Davies knows it and President Jacob Zuma knows it.

 The question is: What are wise men and women of the Council doing about it?  They owe it to us to pronounce on this major policy imperative.

The council may think it is unfair for an advisory body to have so much demanded of it. I disagree –  it is more than just an advisory body.

BEE is beset with problems. It will continue to be because there will always be an element of greed and currently BEE is proving to be a fertile platform for the greedy.

The rest in the broad-base is left eating dust. And for that, history will judge us very harshly.