Let’s have a dialogue about B-BBEE policy

It is a great pity that the DA has refused to take part in President Cyril Ramaphosa’s National Dialogue.

That’s because it would be the ideal place for a debate on the DA’s economic plan, which proposes scrapping broad-based black economic empowerment (B-BBEE) and employment equity.

It’s an opportune moment for a rethink on the policies, because the ANC’s stated commitments to them notwithstanding, they are causing us some discomfort when talking to other countries, most notable being the US.

No doubt the ANC and like-minded people will try to play the race card and portray the DA’s plans as nothing but a return to apartheid’s baasskap – and that would be fair if the policies had been resounding successes.

To say they have been disappointing is probably one of the understatements of the past 30 years.

DA leader John Steenhuisen said yesterday the R1 trillion empowerment spoils were enjoyed by around 100 politically connected persons, as pointed out by Prof William Gumede at Wits earlier this year.

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That much is obvious even to the most dedicated ANC supporter, who sees the chiefs with their fancy cars, mansions and a taste for the Johnnie Walker Blue-fuelled good life.

While there has been an improvement in basic amenities like running water and electricity in many areas of South Africa, B-BBEE has done little or nothing to empower the poor.

And while employment equity promised to level the playing field of employment opportunities, it also generated its own corruption and promoted incompetence.

It has also sparked a brain drain of mainly non-African young people, who don’t see a future for themselves here because of the policy.

Those are truths we cannot run away from. And nor will people like US President Donald Trump allow us to.

So, maybe we should have a proper dialogue about them.

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