By Lehlohonolo Lehana.
President Cyril Ramaphosa has defended Broad-Based Black Economic Empowerment (BBBEE), arguing it remains essential to closing income gaps and redressing injustices of the past.
In his reply on Thursday, Ramaphosa said the Constitution calls for redressing the injustices of the past and building a society that is equal and just.
“We cannot do that without transforming our economy. It cannot be acceptable to anyone in this House for African people, coloured people and Indian people to be poorer and have fewer opportunities than white people,” he said.
“It cannot be acceptable to anyone in this House for women to earn less than men, to own less than men and to run fewer businesses than men.”
He criticised those who have called for the scrapping of BEE, saying such claims were based on falsehoods that it benefits only a few, inhibits economic growth and enables corruption.
He said progress since the introduction of these laws was “undeniable”, pointing to changes in ownership patterns, management control, enterprise development and skills development.
He said the next phase of South Africa’s reform agenda would focus on restructuring state-owned enterprises, overhauling the criminal justice system and strengthening transformation measures, while positioning the country more assertively in a shifting global order.
“The next phase of our energy transformation is the establishment, yes, and the restructuring of the state-owned enterprises (such as) Eskom.”
The power utility would be restructured to generate electricity alongside other companies, supported by a transmission and distribution system designed to open access while retaining state ownership.
Ramaphosa noted that the country had endured 205 days of load-shedding in 2022 and 330 days in 2023, describing that period as the most severe phase of the energy crisis.
He credited the energy crisis committee with helping to stabilise electricity supply and said its structure demonstrated the effectiveness of coordinated task teams.
The president pushed back against criticism by MPs for establishing another task team to tackle the country’s water crisis after he set up a police special investigations task team to probe those implicated in corruption at the Madlanga commission of Inquiry.
“It succeeded because it was able to draw on the skills, the capabilities, the resources and the efforts of a broad range of departments and public institutions, as well as the best experts in South Africa and around the world,” Ramaphosa said.
The president said that over the past 30 years the government had improved the lives of South Africans, although he acknowledged that the past eight years had been marked by “intractable and difficult challenges”.
“There can be no doubt that we have made progress. Even those that deny that we have progress know that we have made progress,” he said.
“But working together, we have undertaken a programme of institutional renewal by stabilising what was weakened through state capture, restoring accountability and stability and rebuilding the capacity of the state to serve the people of South Africa.”
The economy had rebounded from a 6% contraction due to the Covid-19 pandemic, the July 2021 unrest in Gauteng and KwaZulu-Natal and prolonged load-shedding, Ramaphosa said, arguing that the early signs of recovery were visible.
“Over the past year we have seen promising signs of recovery. Whether people like it or not, it has been there. Whether people think it’s an illusion, it has been there. Whether people think we’ve turned the corner or not, they are blind because we are turning the corner. That is where we are,” he said.
“Our task now is to sustain this momentum, to protect and build on the progress that we have made and are continuing to make. And to ensure that this progress results in tangible improvements in the lives of every South African,” he said.
Ramaphosa said reduced borrowing costs and declining public debt service obligations were freeing resources for health, education and policing, while creating space for greater private sector investment. Lower inflation increased households’ purchasing power which, in turn, supported businesses and job creation.