21 October 2025 by Tsakane Mhlongo
On Monday, the DA unveiled its alternative to BBB-EE, saying the ANC’s empowerment policies have left the majority of South Africans unemployed and impoverished.
The DA believes its Inclusion for All Bill can help create jobs and reduce poverty.
But independent economist Duma Gqubule argues that the solution lies in improving implementation, not replacing the policy.
He says the original objective of BEE was to de-racialise the economy.
But he says 31 years later, little has been achieved.
“ Our economy is still white-owned and white-managed. To give you a few indicators, black ownership on the JSE is 1.2%. If you strip out the ownership of foreign assets of JSC companies, it’s about 5.8% in 2022.
“Then, if you look at top management in the private sector in terms of the Commission for Employment Equity, white males, 3.5% of the population, account for 51% of the positions in top management, and Africans, almost 80% of the population, account for 15% of top management positions.”
Gqubule says the government should strengthen the framework and improve transparency in the BEE policy.
He says there are still many loopholes in compliance across both the public and private sectors.
“ Reporting is really poor in the public sector. I think the BEE commission, when I read their report, it shows that there’s very little compliance in the public sector. I would like to see an annual black economic empowerment report by the public sector and another one for state-owned countries. Give us statistics as to what is happening.
“We don’t know properly what is going on in the public sector in terms of procurement. When you open the budget review you get figures, but they don’t give into details of how much you’ve achieved.”
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