News24 | ANC rejects DA’s ‘anti-transformation’ Bill, as BBBEE remains non-negotiable

Deputy President Paul Mashatile told journalists on the sidelines of the OR Tambo memorial lecture on Monday that BBBEE “could never be dropped”.

• The ANC has rejected the DA’s Inclusive Economy for All Bill, labelling it as anti-transformation and undermining BBBEE progress.
• Deputy President Paul Mashatile reaffirmed the ANC’s firm commitment to BBBEE, vowing it could not be dropped, despite coalition dynamics.
• The DA seeks to shift race-based procurement laws to poverty-based measures, launching a Johannesburg advertising billboard to promote its bill.

The ANC has rejected the DA’s Inclusive Economy for All Bill, labelling it an “anti-transformation” bill.

The ANC this week rejected the proposal from its main coalition partner, the DA, and has published a poster on its platforms, stating that it “firmly” rejects what it describes as the DA’s anti-transformation bill.

According to the ANC, the bill seeks to undermine the “hard-won” progress made in advancing Broad-Based Black Economic Empowerment (BBBEE) and redressing the injustices of Apartheid”.

Deputy President Paul Mashatile told journalists on the sidelines of the OR Tambo memorial lecture on Monday that BBBEE “could never be dropped”.

“Of course, without an absolute majority, it’s not easy. As part of rebuilding the ANC and going back to our people, we want to make sure we garner more support for the ANC to be able to have the power to transform and reconstruct our society.

Mashatile added:

“We are going to continue to improve it because it is the black people who are facing serious oppression in this country, it is the black people who are poor in the majority, and the policies that must better their lives must never be compromised by anyone, including those who are in alliance with us in the GNU,” Mashatile said.

READ | Local govt elections ‘make or break’ for SA, warns Zille as DA unveils BEE billboard

Mashatile’s utterances came a week after President Cyril Ramaphosa assured that the policy was here to stay, but the ANC was willing to engage on the matter.

Last week, the DA said it aims to amend parts of the Public Procurement Amendment Act of 2024, “to repeal“ all race-based preferential procurement provisions and replace them with a real empowerment system that targets poverty as the proxy for disadvantage instead of race.

The DA has since unveiled a massive advertising billboard in Johannesburg, which it says summarises the bill.

At the billboard unveiling, DA head of policy, Mat Cuthbert, revealed that the party would be writing to all parties represented in Parliament to drum up support for the bill.