By Lehlohonolo Lehana.
President Cyril Ramaphosa said South Africa must never allow its transformative policies to be undermined by the actions of corrupt individuals.
Ramaphosa was speaking at the Black Management Forum’s (BMF) 45th-anniversary celebrations on Friday night.
The event comes as government has had to defend its Covid-19 Tourism Equity Fund, which is aimed at assisting black-owned tourism businesses to access financing to promote transformation in the industry. Solidarity and AfriForum challenged the fund’s rollout at the North Gauteng High Court in Pretoria, saying it is discriminatory on the basis of race.
Referencing the case, Ramaphosa said it’s a clear example of a sector where resistance was found and “everything must be done to defeat such attacks on the transformation agenda”.
He said some have blamed policies such as black economic empowerment (BEE) and preferential procurement for high levels of corruption in the country – views which he said must be resisted at all times.
During his keynote address, Ramaphosa hailed the BMF as the “true architects” of the Broad-Based Black Economic Empowerment Act and said the group was at the forefront of the transformation agenda in the South African economy. He said black business had to be central to South Africa’s economic recovery.
Benefactors of the apartheid government and corrupt individuals have both caught the ire of the President.
He has told business leaders in the country to do everything in their power to defeat those who resist transformation.
Focusing his speech on corruption in the country, the President said transformation policies – even without any evidence – were now being called into question.
“The preferential procurement policies, employment equity, and BEE are responsible for the acts of corruption, thieving, bribery, and looting that we have seen lately.”
Ramaphosa added that South Africa must emerge from the pandemic with a fundamentally different economy that creates more jobs and provides more opportunities to new entrants. He said funding institutions must be bold in their support for black businesses at this time.
“Funding is a major challenge, but we need to be creative and innovative. We must come up with funding options and proposals. This is where black business should not be afraid or hold back – even if we have to kiss as many frogs as we can – until we find our princes and princesses as we look to build and grow black businesses,” Ramaphosa said.
Ramaphosa said the manufacture of vaccines must be led by black people as government had already given R18 billion to black industrialists in the past year.
He stated black companies mustn’t draw back from searching for alternatives on the continent, because the African Union launched the African medical provides platform. Native companies can place their merchandise on the platform for buy, with R2 billion price of commerce up for grabs, benefitting new firms.