ANC, DA ugly war over 'nonsense' BEE bill

The Democratic Alliance (DA) is facing a backlash over its plan to table a bill scrapping the country's broad-based black economic empowerment policy.

- Lunga Mzangwe

The war over BEE intensified this week, with the ANC calling the proposal to do away with it “mad”, “nonsense” and “unconstitutional” and vowing to oppose it in parliament, setting the two biggest parties in the fragile government of national unity on course for a fresh fallout that could sound the death knell for the pact.

The coalition put together by President Cyril Ramaphosa after the ANC lost its parliamentary majority in last year’s general elections has teetered on the brink several times as the parties clashed over the national budget, black empowerment, land expropriation, the National Health Insurance as well as admission and language policies in schools.

The DA this week announced that it would seek support from the ANC and its other partners in the government of national unity (GNU) for the Public Procurement Inclusive Bill to replace what it said were years of ineffective empowerment policies that have left the majority of South Africans unemployed, impoverished and hopeless.

But ANC treasurer general Gwen Ramokgopa told the Mail & Guardian the proposed bill would be unconstitutional and her party would never support it.

"That's nonsense because it is a constitutional mandate. The constitution says to redress the past inequalities," she said.

The broad-based BEE policy allows for preferential treatment in government procurement processes to businesses which contribute to black economic empowerment according to measurable criteria, including partial or majority black ownership, hiring black employees and contracting with black-owned suppliers.

ANC Youth League president Collen Malatji said the proposed bill was a clear indication that the DA was a racist organisation that refused to accept the reality of apartheid and did not believe in being led by a black leadership.