The DA has introduced the Economic Inclusion Bill, which it calls a bold alternative to Broad-Based Black Economic Empowerment (BBBEE).
The party argues that BEE has failed to reduce poverty or unemployment and has become a tool for corruption that benefits politically connected elites.
During a media briefing on Monday, it said the new bill seeks to replace years of what it called “ineffective” empowerment policies that have left millions of South Africans unemployed, impoverished, and hopeless.
The DA’s head of policy, Mat Cuthbert, said the bill aims to create a public procurement system that promotes genuine economic empowerment through incentives linked to tangible developmental outcomes such as job creation, poverty reduction, skills development, and environmental sustainability.
“Our alternative model aligns with the 17 United Nations sustainable development goals, which serve as a universal call to action for government, business, and civil society to end poverty, address inequality, and create a path towards sustainable economic growth by 2030,” he said.
Cuthbert said transitional measures in the bill include winding down the BEE commission over 12 months and systematically removing references to BEE across legislation.
He said that the DA’s proposed alternative scorecard comprises three components: value for money, economic inclusion, and disqualification criteria.
Cuthbert said since the ANC introduced BEE in 2003, conditions have deteriorated for the very people the policy was meant to uplift.
“The unemployment rate for black South Africans was 36% in the last quarter of 2024, compared to 7% among white South Africans.
“From 2014 to 2024, the black unemployment rate increased by 9 percentage points, while the white unemployment rate decreased by 1%,” he said.
He claimed that instead of redressing past injustices, BEE has become a “feeding trough” for politically connected individuals who benefit at the expense of the poor.
“The DA is committed to redressing the injustices of the past by removing all barriers to accessing opportunities and delivering real empowerment for all South Africans,” he said.
Cuthbert said the Economic Inclusion for All Bill also seeks to amend the Public Procurement Amendment Act of 2024 to repeal all race-based preferential procurement provisions.
In their place, the DA proposes a system that targets poverty as a proxy for disadvantage rather than race.
He added that BEE has become a key driver of corruption within government structures.
“We have witnessed this in the wide-scale looting of approximately R2bn from Tembisa Hospital and the murder of Ekurhuleni metropolitan municipality’s chief auditor, Mpho Mafole, after submitting a scathing report relating to R1.8bn in chemical toilet tenders.
“This clearly demonstrates how successive ANC administrations have failed to address the root causes of inequality by implementing crude race-based procurement policies to benefit themselves at the expense of the people,” he said.
The bill will now go through parliamentary processes.
DA Federal chairperson Ivan Meyer described BEE as “nothing but state-sponsored corruption, fraud, and theft by cadres who are politically connected”.
“We all know that corruption by the state never happens by accident. It is carefully designed and militarily executed by the ANC. It is not an accident.
“BEE is state-sponsored corruption and is not an accident. It is designed to enrich a few politically connected people,” Meyer said.
Sowetan
Would you like to comment on this article?
Sign up (it's quick and free) or sign in now.
Please read our Comment Policy before commenting.