‘The DA wants to take us back to apartheid’ – ANC
African National Congress (ANC) spokesperson Mahlengi Bhengu has said that “there will not be a day in South Africa when Broad-Based Black Economic Empowerment (B-BBEE) is scrapped.”
The ANC spokesperson was responding to the Democratic Alliance’s (DA’s) plan to replace B-BBEE with a new, non-race-based policy.
“The DA foresees a future South Africa that is without transformation laws, starting with B-BBEE,” said Bhengu during an interview on the sidelines of an ANC event.
“This is an idea that must be challenged by all democracy-loving people and patriots.”
The DA’s proposed Economic Inclusion for All Bill, which the party plans to table in parliament, aims to do away with BEE legislation and, in its place, institute a new public procurement system.
Bhengu said that the ANC would be willing to discuss the issue with the DA, a co-governing partner in the Government of National Unity (GNU).
She added that the National Dialogue would be the right platform to debate the legislation, but criticised the DA for boycotting the dialogue.
The ANC will “always be willing to engage” on any other appropriate platform, according to Bhengu. “We are a country that is founded on dialogue.”
“If the DA was sincere about its intentions, they would be part of the National Dialogue process.”
While the spokesperson said the ANC will listen to the party’s proposal before making a judgment when the bill is tabled in parliament, the ANC’s stance on scrapping BEE is unflinching.
“When there are amendments, like any other piece of legislation, amendments are acceptable as long as they do not deviate from the substance of that piece of legislation,” said Bhengu.
She added that because of BEE, many have risen in the corporate and public sectors because of the legislation.
“It’s quite disappointing that in 2025, we are still dealing with a party that wants to take us back to racism and to apartheid and discrimination,” she said.
“A party that seems content with the current status quo, where levels of inequality are really high. We need transformation, and we need enabling laws for transformation to happen.”
DA’s plan dead in the water – ANC
“That is indicative of the dismissiveness with which the DA and other right-wing groups in South Africa have for the need to normalise and equalise society,” said Bhengu.
“That is why I stress that there will not be a moment when the ANC will not defend transformation legislation.”
Bhengu said this extends beyond B-BBEE and to Employment Equity Laws and Land Expropriation, which the DA has taken the ANC to court for.
“It is our generational and historic responsibility to protect what has been fought for,” said the spokesperson.
In response to the DA’s assertion that B-BBEE laws benefit only a few politically connected individuals, Bhengu said that she’s not sure that this allegation is backed up by real evidence.
“The truth of the matter is, you have a lot of black women who have secured employment because of affirmative action policies.”
“The truth is that we have increased black faces, Indians and Coloureds in various sectors, especially the public sector.
The DA’s proposed replacement for B-BBEE is the “Economic Inclusion for All Bill.”
This would amend the Public Procurement Act to repeal race-based preferential provisions in favour of a system that prioritises three components.
These are: value for money, economic inclusion, and disqualification criteria for those who have been implicated in fraud and corruption, said the party.
Procurement would then be based on a preference points system that grades suppliers based on demonstrated contributions to development and social impact.
This would phase out B-BBEE in 12 months. In a press conference announcing their intention to table the bill, the party was hopeful that the ANC would be open to “doing the right thing” and scrapping the legislation.
They argued that it would be in the ANC’s best interest, as the policy is not receiving the same amount of public support as it used to.
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Maybe the ANC is correct. Black South Africans were moulded to depend on the government, they are no longer doing their households on their own. Schooling, houses, food, etc should be provided by the government. All they should do is to spend time in the bedrooms and kitchens. Their energy is no longer needed in our democracy, the government is providing everything they need. DA is now pushing us back to work, meaning South Africans will do their households on themselves. Maybe we will experience the end of corruption, looting or collapsing the state in the near future.