It’s about time people start analysing this!
ANC secretary general Gwede Mantashe has said he has “serious grievances” with BEE focusing on shareholding rather helping beneficiaries gain a deeper understanding of business on Tuesday. He was addressing analysts as part of the ANC’s programme to speak to various sectors in South Africa.
Mantashe said the ANC would meet the Black Business Council (BBC) to discuss the strengths and failures of black economic empowerment (BEE) and the role of state procurement in transformation of the economy. A representative from the BBC had complained that the government’s procurement policy had gone wrong.
Various delegates raised questions about the effectiveness of BEE policies. Mantashe responded that he had a problem with the idea of BEE. “I have a serious grievance with BEE… focusing on shareholding with beneficiaries not being operational.” He said if the beneficiaries of BEE deals were not part of operations, they were not gaining a deeper understanding of the business in order to grow. “Operational exposure, to me, is more powerful than just ownership…”
He commended Exxaro Coal’s South African CEO Sipho Nkosi for not being a “window-shopping CEO”. “Sipho Nkosi is not a big shareholder, but he is very operational… he knows mining. To me, that is how we are going to transform the economy.”
Black business should deliver affordable, quality products and services if it wants government contracts, Mantashe said. “As we support black business, black business must bring a commitment of delivery, cost-competitive and quality of items that are procured,” he told analysts and business people in Soweto.
Mantashe said the primary outcome of the ANC lekgotla in July was that the government needed to drop the system of tenders. It needed to move away from giving business to black companies, and then afterwards arguing about quality and cost. “Don’t undermine this question of people delivering bridges that get eroded with the first rainfall. It can’t continue. It just can’t continue. It is wrong. It is wrong.”
Full article: