The government has made South Africans poorer over the last 17 years

ANC Secretary-General Fikile Mbalula claimed that calls for the end of BEE are against the economic freedom of the people of South Africa. However, the data tells a different story.

Mbalula made these claims during a media briefing on 6 August 2025, following the African National Congress’s (ANC’s) National Executive Committee (NEC) meeting.

He claimed that calls for deregulation and the end of Broad-Based Black Economic Empowerment (B-BBEE) are against the economic freedom of the people of South Africa.

He said the Democratic Alliance’s (DA’s) view on black empowerment regulation exposes a mindset that is out of touch with the aspirations of South African people.

“It is a direct affront to the principles of the Freedom Charter, which demand that the people shall share in the country’s wealth,” Mbalula said.

“The DA’s posture reflects a deeply entrenched neo-imperialist mindset that seeks to subordinate South Africa’s sovereign right to chart its own economic destiny.”

Mbalula said the ANC would not retreat from defending the economic freedom of its people. He did not clarify who the ANC’s people are.

“Our government’s principled and deliberate approach remains firmly rooted in the struggle traditions that guided us to liberation,” he said.

He regularly referenced the National Democratic Revolution (NDR), a Marxist-influenced strategy which guides ANC policy.

He explained that the ANC is the party of the National Democratic Revolution and that they lead the initiative.

President Cyril Ramaphosa said that through the Government of National Unity (GNU), they had safeguarded the progressive policy agenda of the National Democratic Revolution.

Ramaphosa added that the National Democratic Revolution is the core pillar of all ANC policies and that the GNU has enabled it to further this agenda.

The DA explains its view

DA finance and economy national spokesperson, Dr Mark Burke, said they have sounded the alarm about the ANC’s bad handling of matters for a long time.

In recent weeks, the focus was on the strained relationship with the United States, which imposed 30% tariffs on South African goods.

This will significantly impact South Africa’s agricultural and automotive industries, which are two of the biggest employers in the country.

Burke highlighted that not even the United States, with threats of high tariffs, could convince the ANC to step away from blind policies like BEE.

Political economist Moeletsi Mbeki said in a recent interview with BusinessTech that BEE, while framed as addressing historical injustices, primarily serves to enrich “a small political elite within the ANC.”

He contends that BEE “does not create new wealth. It does not create new entrepreneurs” but rather incentivises becoming “parasitic on the existing companies and at the same time to become parasitic on the state.”

These comments align with research from Professor William Gumede of the Wits School of Governance about black economic empowerment.

His research found that R1 trillion has been moved between under 100 people since 1994. The same people have been empowered and re-empowered over and over.

He added that the ANC has completely bungled the partnership with the United States, which included an incompetent ambassador who was booted out of America.

“We are in a dismal situation due to the ANC’s incompetence, arrogance, and being asleep at the wheel,” Burke said.

He added that the ANC cadres who benefited from BEE would not suffer from the impact on South Africa from the strained trade relationship with the US.

The people who will suffer are normal workers in the agriculture and automotive industries who work hard to provide for their families.

He said, despite their anger towards the ANC, they will work hard as part of the government of national unity (GNU) to rectify the situation.

“There are portfolios where the DA can try to effect the change needed. We will try to get the ANC to come to its senses on a policy level,” he said.

He said the changes needed to improve South Africa’s situation included economic policy, trade policy, and foreign relations.

What the numbers say

With conflicting views from the ANC and DA on economic and trade policy, Newsday looked at the economic performance of South Africa over the last two administrations.

This is when policies like BEE, affirmative action, and cosying up to nations like Russia and Iran started to make headlines.

The data showed that South Africans became poorer over the last seventeen years, with a significant decline in Gross Domestic Product (GDP) per capita.

GDP per capita is a key indicator of a nation’s prosperity and a widely used measure of the standard of living in a country.

South Africa’s real GDP per capita declined from R79,000 in 2015 to R74,000 in 2024, indicating a decline in the standard of living.

One of the main causes of the declining GDP per capita is South Africa’s increasing unemployment rate.

The government’s destructive economic policies, like BEE and affirmative action, have resulted in far lower investment in South Africa.

This, in turn, has caused lower employment, which means that more South Africans rely on government grants. This is a devastating downward spiral.

South Africa’s official unemployment rate increased from 24% in 2009 to 33% in 2024, leaving millions looking for work.