Government remains committed to the agenda of thorough-going transformation, says Finance Minister Enoch Godongwana.

This commitment is emphasised in its focus on empowerment initiatives such as the policy on Broad Based Black Economic Empowerment, which has resulted in thousands of black-owned businesses being supported to grow and develop.

The Minister made the remarks during a gala dinner of the Black Management Forum in Komani in the Eastern Cape on Tuesday.

He said: “Through our policy on Affirmative Action we have ensured that more and more black professionals are able to enter the corporate world.”

He said while the governing party, the ANC, does not support giving positions to unqualified people simply on the grounds of race or gender, it insists that the hundreds of thousands of merit-worthy previously disadvantaged people be given their due.

“Those who have been kept back by apartheid education and by sexist assumptions should be given special backing to catch up,” he said

With regards to equity ownership, he said the ANC’s “Ready to Govern” document directs that “equity ownership will also have to be extended so that people from all sections of the population have a stake in the economy and the power to influence economic decisions.”

This, he said, speaks to the need to expand participation in the economic mainstream, especially by black people, women and persons with disability.

“More than 25 years on, we have been able to make deep inroads in addressing economic marginalisation. We have greatly expanded access to employment and other economic opportunities through a calibrated process of growing and diversifying the productive base.

“Social protection has also been expanded and the number of people with access to basic services such as electricity, piped water and sanitation, has increased significantly. As indicated earlier, our efforts to promote black economic empowerment and employment equity have yielded some results,” he said.

Regrettably, said the Minister, since 2009, progress had stalled “as a result of state capture and a lack of political will”.

He said the latest Commission for Employment Equity report painted a grim picture about the pace of transformation in the South African economy.

According to the report, the progress of Black Africans into top management positions averaged around 15% between 2018 and 2020.

The representation of the Coloured and Indian populations remained at 5.7% and 10.6% respectively in 2020. The White population continues to dominate top management roles, accounting for nearly 65%.

“The case is much the same in senior management roles. It is this skewed representation, especially in an environment of economic stagnation, that feeds into income and wealth inequality, and the knock-on effects of social instability that threaten our national project of unity, reconciliation and prosperity for all.

He said government continues to work on remedying this situation by implementing progressive legislation and policies that seek to address weaknesses in the economic framework.

For instance, he said government had emphasised the need for localisation.

“Our Preferential Procurement Policy Framework Act (PPPFA) of 2000 is aimed at providing the incentive for government and businesses to procure from BEE certified suppliers.

“The ruling by the Constitutional Court in February that certain aspects of the PPPFA Act are unlawful, is a set-back,” he said.

The National Treasury had since issued new regulations to the PPPFA for public comment. While the PPPF Bill was now with NEDLAC, the department intends to table the Procurement Bill before Parliament in June.

“We are committed to using all levers at our disposal, including legislation, to advance economic transformation,” he said.

He added government expects black professionals to understand their role in helping to advance transformation.

“We see black professionals as our partners in the ongoing struggle to transform our economy and society. Black professionals must be on the side of the democratic state as it carries forward the transformation agenda. They must input into this process and be among its primary custodians.

“Black professionals also need to help the democratic state in ensuring that the resources at our disposal are managed efficiently, to the benefit of the people. Equally, black professionals need to ask the critical question: why is it that black managers tend to be associated with failure and incompetence.”

Turning attention to the state of local government, the Minister said six out of every 10 municipalities were in financial distress

“Their governance is weak and they lack professional and judicious management. These are largely municipalities led by black managers under a black political leadership. We must ask these difficult questions and not shy away from them,” he said.

Source: South African Government News Agency