A workable model for economic growth and empowerment
BBBEE has only benefited a few ANC-connected elites
LAST week, Mmusi Maimane, the leader of the DA, stated that the biggest reform we needed to see in order to achieve genuine redress was to scrap Broad-Based Black Economic Empowerment (BBBEE). This is true.
The majority of poor, unemployed South Africans have not benefited from BBBEE, a scheme set up to make a handful of ANC-connected individuals filthy rich.
This is not the redress we were promised. Even ANC Minister Ebrahim Patel spoke passionately in Parliament about how BBBEE had failed South Africa.
The current ANC system of BBBEE is a top-down approach, which looks to benefit those elites and connected individuals at the top, creating a small of pool of enriched individuals.
There is a consensus that a new path forward is needed. The debate is not whether we need redress, but rather how best to redress the ills of our past, tackle inequality, and grow our nation and our economy.
It is for this reason that Maimane announced that the party would set up a Growth and Redress Commission, which would explore a true alternative to achieving economic redress.
One of the ways to achieve true and meaningful economic empowerment is job creation, and on this front the ANC has failed dismally, with nearly 10million South Africans in the unemployment lines.
Where the DA governs, we have proven that providing training and skills opportunities are a far more effective way of taking people out of poverty and levelling the playing field. The numbers speak for themselves.
Employment in the Western Cape grew by 24.8% between 2009 and last year, ahead of Gauteng (18.6%) and KwaZulu-Natal (8.8%) (Q3 2009 – Q4 2018).
With this job creation, the Western Cape has South Africa’s lowest unemployment rate at 14 percentage points lower than the national average (expanded definition) across all races.
A major indicator of diversity is that our youth unemployment in the Western Cape is the lowest in the country. On top of this, our rural unemployment rate is the lowest in South Africa at 15.7%.
This was made possible by our focused economic strategy – Project Khulisa.
Putting the numbers down, 508 000 jobs have been created for all races in the Western Cape since we took office.
We have created an enabling environment for investment to drive economic growth, with R100 billion in foreign direct investment deals secured, creating an estimated 19 000 jobs. Through our investment agency, Wesgro, we have secured 299 direct investment projects since 2009.
This all points to a growing and diversifying environment under the DA, which is creating jobs for all South Africans. This is how you achieve real empowerment.
We have also challenged President Cyril Ramaphosa to pass the Jobs Act as proposed by the DA.
This covers many interventions that could stimulate our economy. We also need to streamline red tape for business owners and to revive sectors like manufacturing through tax incentives.
Apartheid aimed to destroy any prospect for black people to accumulate or transfer wealth. Today the majority of South Africans remain poor as this issue has never been addressed, certainly not by BBBEE.
We need to build a new model for wealth transfer that includes property title, share ownership and pension savings.
We can start by privatising tribal and state-owned land and giving people title to it. Private property rights for all citizens is the bedrock of prosperity for all.
During the president’s reply to MPs in Parliament last week, he said his government would not scrap BBBEE. This should come as no surprise as many within the ANC would lose out if this happened.
The DA is the only party that aims to put an end to this system of “haves” and “have nots”, in which a politically connected few benefit.
We will continue to fight for one South Africa for all.
In the coming weeks and months, we look forward to engaging all South Africans on our position, which will provide a credible and attractive alternative to the turgid and corrupt ANC government.
The DA has created an enabling environment for investment to drive economic growth