If BEE is scrapped in South Africa, we demand reparations – GNU partner

If the Democratic Alliance’s (DA) bill to scrap Broad-Based Black Economic Empowerment (BEE) succeeds, some political parties have indicated they may push more strongly for apartheid reparations.

Ganief Hendricks, leader of Al Jama-ah—a party in the Government of National Unity (GNU) that governs alongside the DA—told Newsday that his party opposes repealing BEE.

“Al Jama-ah will strongly call for reparations if the BEE Act is repealed,” Hendricks said in response to questions about the DA’s proposal.

Hendricks currently serves as Deputy Minister of Social Development. His party received just over 39,000 votes on the national ballot in 2024, securing two seats in the 400-seat National Assembly.

On Monday, the DA, the second-largest party after the ANC in the 10-party coalition, said it will introduce an Economic Inclusion for All Bill to replace B-BBEE legislation.

The party said BEE has become a conduit for state-sponsored corruption, theft, and fraud, and has failed to reform the economy.

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.

The party argued that since BEE was put in place, the unemployment rate for black South Africans has increased by 9 percentage points between 2014 and 2024.

The unemployment rate for white South Africans during this same time frame has marginally decreased by 1 percentage point. 

“Thirty million black South Africans are trapped in poverty, of a total 52 million,” the DA’s head of Policy Mat Cuthbert said. 

However, the proposal was criticised by other GNU partners, including its biggest partner, the ANC.

The ANC accused the DA of trying to halt transformation and take the country back to apartheid, saying that “there will not be a day in South Africa when B-BBEE is scrapped.”

Other GNU partners, while critical of the DA’s replacement policy, acknowledged that BEE has failed to fulfil its mandate, having failed to reduce alarming levels of poverty and inequality. 

In addition to the DA, the South African government has come under increased pressure from the United States Donald Trump administration to drop BEE. 

The US cited BEE as one of its reasons for implementing punitive 30% tariffs on South African exports. Despite this, the ANC has stood firm on its stance that it will not scrap the policy.

“We will still pursue redress; we are not equal in this economy. This economy is still male white dominated and you want to tell us to abandon policies that seek to advance transformation,” said ANC Secretary General Fikile Mbulula in August 2025. 

DA’s BEE replacement bill opposed by GNU partners

$110 million left untouched

BEE was instituted around 2003, after the government recognised the need for policies to empower black South Africans economically.

It aimed to promote economic transformation through ownership, management control, and skills development.  

While BEE is framed as the ANC’s attempt to right the economic injustices of history, the Truth and Reconciliation Commission recommended additional monetary reparations for victims of apartheid. 

Reparations are used in many countries and international conflicts, and broadly refers to restoring to good condition something that has been damaged. 

This can range from monetary compensation to memorials.

The TRC recommended a range of reparative measures, from symbolic reparations, such as memorials and renaming places, to monetary reparations. 

The government of the day only partially accepted the commission’s recommendations for reparations, and these have thus far been insufficient in disrupting the country’s deep economic inequalities. 

The commission promised victims six years of reparations; however, survivors instead received a once-off grant. 

President Thabo Mbeki reduced the reparations amount from R20,000 a year per victim for six years to a once-off payment of R30,000.

In March 2025, it was reported by the BBC that the reparations fund still has about $110 million in it, left untouched.

The Foundation for Human Rights has been engaging with the government on the issue of reparations for a decade. 

“There has been an apparent lack of commitment from the Department of Justice and Constitutional Development to engage on the matter, and the total failure of the government to develop a clear plan of action with respect to reparations,” the foundation said. 

However, in 2025, the call for reparations from global victims of atrocities has picked up steam.

The African Union named 2025 the year of “justice for Africans and people of African Descent through Reparations.”