By Lehlohonolo Lehana.
The party expressed concerns about ANC’s continued support of BBBEE, which it argued had deterred investment, stifled growth and benefited ANC cadres while the majority of black South Africans remained in poverty and excluded from opportunity.
It says South Africa needs a genuine empowerment model that makes a tangible impact in poor communities and creates a pathway out of poverty and into prosperity.
The party’s Economic Inclusion for All Bill seeks to amend the Public Procurement Amendment Act of 2024, to repeal all race-based preferential procurement provisions and replace them with an empowerment system that targets poverty as the proxy for disadvantage instead of race.
The Bill aims to create a public procurement system that encourages economic empowerment by offering incentives for developmental outcomes such as job creation, poverty reduction, skills enhancement and environmentally sustainable practices.
The bill will “repeal all race-based preference preferential procurement provisions,” and create a public procurement system that encourages genuine economic empowerment by offering incentives for tangible developmental, DA head of policy Mathew Cuthbert told a media briefing in Johannesburg on Monday.
BEE procurement rules encourage the government and companies to choose suppliers that are Black-owned or have strong black participation, as part of a policy to provide more economic opportunities to people who were marginalized during apartheid.
But critics say that it discourages investment, stunting economic growth and job creation.
South Africa’s unemployment rate, which exceeds 33% is one of the world’s highest and the economy has only grown by a feeble 1% on average for more than a decade.
The DA’s proposal presents a fresh challenge to the 10-party GNU, which was formed after the ANC failed to win an outright majority in last year’s election.