World Report

Extending opportunities to those who were disadvantaged under apartheid is critically important to the success of the economy

Targets include 30 percent black ownership of agricultural land by 2014.

o achieve sustainable growth, South Africa needs to draw on the full potential of all its people. The government’s broad-based Black Economic Empowerment (BEE) strategy is aimed at transforming South Africa’s corporate and economic landscape by extending opportunities to participate in the economy to those disadvantaged under apartheid.

The implementation of BEE is to be achieved through codes of good practice and transformation charters for each sector. The government says it will be flexible in its use of regulatory powers to achieve its desired objectives and has sought to reassure potential investors.

Pivotal sectors for which charters have already been developed include mining, the petroleum and maritime sectors, tourism and financial services. Individually tailored to each particular industry, the charters generally aim for a target of 30 percent black ownership by 2014.

Deputy Minister of Trade and Industry Benedicta Lindiwe Hendricks says the BEE strategy is critically important to the success of the economy. “It is as imperative for us to implement BEE in South Africa as it is for us to transform our economy. It makes economic sense to increase the number of people who participate in the economy. BEE cannot be divorced from economic growth, job creation and greater equality. It is closely linked to small business development and entrepreneurship.”

Benedicta Lindiwe Hendricks
Deputy Minister of Trade and Industry
“BEE is not something we have to apologise for. It makes economic sense”

Essop Pahad
Minister in the Presidency

“Inclusivity is essential if South Africa’s true business potential is to be realised”

Ms Hendricks says that BEE should be viewed not only in the context of transforming existing sectors, but also in that of the creation of new enterprises. “The government is creating an environment where black businesses can flourish and new industries emerge in which black people can establish a name for themselves.”

Specific support programmes for black enterprises have been introduced, such as the National Empowerment Fund (NEF), created for the express purpose of addressing the lack of finance for black economic empowerment, and the Black Business Supplier Programme, a cash grant incentive scheme financed by the government.

The government is eager to get investors and business leaders to understand that BEE is not only inevitable but desirable from a business point of view. Minister in the Presidency Essop Pahad says BEE is not just about ownership but about management as well. “You can’t have a situation where the bulk of senior managers will continue to be white males, it’s not possible. You are cutting out a huge number of people who can make a real contribution to developing a company or a group of companies.”

The minister says the big companies accept the need for change. “They realise this is necessary because it gives them a better insight into what the larger market in South Africa, and on the rest of the continent, requires.”

The government is dedicated to creating a non-sexist as well as a non-racial society. “You can’t create a non-sexist society in a vacuum, it has to be created in the context of the empowerment of women,” says Dr Pahad.

The government is leading by example. Fifty percent of South Africa’s ministers and deputy ministers are women and

Wendy Luhabe
Chairman of Industrial Development Corporation

“Inclusive development will make South Africa an inspiration to others”

it is close to achieving its target of women holding 30 percent of all public service senior management positions.

President Mbeki recently said the government needed to do more to promote women's participation in the economy. He identified access to capital and to domestic and foreign markets as obstacles faced by women in business.

Wendy Luhabe, Chairman of the Industrial Development Corporation, says the government has made great strides but the private sector has a long way to go to catch up. She believes South Africa is setting an example that will eventually be followed across the continent.

She comments, “We have a government that recognises the contribution that women can make and recognises their potential. I believe that when other African leaders look at what has been achieved in South Africa, over time they will gradually move in the same direction.”