A new political battle over economic transformation has erupted, with the Democratic Alliance (DA) launching a public campaign to replace Black Economic Empowerment (BEE) with a poverty-based model, a move immediately condemned by critics as a “dangerous overreach.”
Unveiling a billboard along the N1, DA Federal Council Chairperson Helen Zille argued that BEE has only enriched a connected ANC elite while leaving the country poorer. The party is pushing its Public Procurement Amendment Bill, which would scrap race-based policies in favour of those targeting disadvantage based on socioeconomic need. “We can measure poverty, so we don’t need race as a proxy,” Zille stated.
However, political analyst Solly Rashilo slammed the proposal, arguing that the problem is not BEE itself but its “capture and corruption by political insiders.” He warned that abandoning race-based redress ignores the “deep, structural economic injustices” of apartheid and colonialism. Instead of discarding BEE, Rashilo called for a reformed system with tighter means testing and a greater focus on job creation and skills development.
The debate sets the stage for a fundamental ideological clash ahead of the next election, pitting the DA’s vision of a “race-neutral” prosperity against critics who see it as an erasure of the specific historical redress needed in South Africa.
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