ANC voters want the government to stop race-based appointments

Political and economic expert Dr Frans Cronje has unpacked a study that found the majority of ANC voters want the government to abolish race-based appointments.

Instead, they want the government to appoint the best person for the position, independent of their race.

Cronje shared this information during a discussion about the growing opposition to black economic empowerment (BEE) during a recent Makin Sense podcast.

He highlighted statistics from the Social Research Foundation (SRF), a South African think-tank established to promote democracy and sound public policy.

The data in the report is drawn from a survey of 1,835 demographically and geographically representative registered voters, with a margin of error of 4%.

The majority of South Africans believe that the government should appoint the best person for the job, regardless of their race, so long as that business pays taxes and creates employment. 

• 87% of all respondents supported merit-based appointments.
• 84% of black respondents supported merit-based appointments.
• 84% of ANC voters supported merit-based appointments.

The majority of South Africans also believe that the government should buy products from the best supplier, regardless of its ownership makeup.

Last year, the SRF asked people whether the new government should make race-based appointments stricter or abandon them.

The majority of respondents said the government should abandon all race-based appointments and ensure all government officials are appointed only on merit.

• 74% of all respondents supported doing away with race-based appointments and focusing only on merit.
• 68% of black voters supported focusing only on merit.
• 64% of ANC voters supported doing away with race-based appointments and focusing only on merit.

The majority of voters, including ANC supporters, feel the same way about procurement policies for government goods and services.

The overwhelming support for ending race-based appointments and procurement is unsurprising, considering their negative impact, said Cronje.

He said that due to black economic empowerment (BEE) policies, South Africa’s economy has stagnated, and investments have dried up.

This is evident in the average annual GDP growth of only about 0.7% to 1.1% over the last decade.

Many municipalities have also collapsed, which many analysts put down to the ANC’s cadre deployment policy.

Cronje highlighted that current BEE policies are causing significant damage to the economy by creating a significant hurdle to investments.

“The consequences of the manner in which BEE is practised, which include taxing capital on arrival, make South Africa difficult to invest in,” he said.

He added that race-based procurement laws have served as a fig leaf for extraordinary corruption in South Africa.

Cronje said many ANC leaders are discussing the potential to exit black economic empowerment in its current form behind closed doors.

“The data demonstrates that a significant majority of registered voters across lines of race, education and party affiliation would prefer for appointments in the civil service to be based on merit as opposed to race,” said the SRF.

The SRF public opinion poll