African National Congress (ANC) President Cyril Ramaphosa has stated that he has not yet seen the Democratic Alliance’s (DA) formal proposal to abolish Broad-Based Black Economic Empowerment (BEE) and replace it with new legislation.
The comments were made in response to the DA’s announced plan to scrap the existing BEE framework and introduce an “Economic Inclusion for All Bill.”
President Ramaphosa emphasized that the current BEE policy is constitutionally grounded, and any attempt to alter it must follow the established legislative channels.
“The issue of BEE as it’s being raised by the DA, I have not yet seen their proposals. What they are suggesting is what I have not yet seen,” Ramaphosa stated.
He firmly outlined the ANC’s position, saying, “Currently we have a BEE policy that is rooted and underpinned by our constitution and the laws that we have passed. So if anyone wants an amendment to the BEE legislation, they must table their proposals. It must be taken for discussion in parliament.”
Ramaphosa affirmed that the existing policies remain in full force. “At the moment the BEE policies, legislation, regulations as they stand apply without any dilution whatsoever,” he said.
Defending the policy as essential for economic transformation, the ANC President explained that BEE was crafted to rectify historical imbalances. He argued that the South African economy has historically been exclusionary.
“We will continue to insist that the BEE process of transforming our economy is the correct approach that we have crafted to transform our economy to make sure that participation in the economy of our country is inclusive because hitherto it has not been inclusive. It’s been exclusive,” Ramaphosa said.
He elaborated, “It’s only been relegated to those who have benefited through privilege and many other processes from the economy that was skewed that was only made to benefit a few white people. So from our point of view, the BEE policies are meant to benefit all South Africans and those policies remain.”
The statement from the ANC President sets a clear defensive line for the party’s cornerstone transformation policy, indicating that any challenge from the DA would face significant legislative and constitutional hurdles.