{"id":45547,"date":"2013-09-09T13:12:51","date_gmt":"2013-09-09T11:12:51","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/businesstech.co.za\/news\/?p=45547"},"modified":"2013-09-09T13:53:43","modified_gmt":"2013-09-09T11:53:43","slug":"da-punts-alternative-bee","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/businesstech.co.za\/news\/government\/45547\/da-punts-alternative-bee\/","title":{"rendered":"DA punts alternative BEE"},"content":{"rendered":"

The\u00a0Democratic\u00a0Alliance (DA<\/a>) says that, while it is committed to black economic empowerment, its version differs from that of the current government.<\/p>\n

The political party\u00a0launched the second phase of the “Know Your DA” campaign in\u00a0Johannesburg on Monday (9 September), with social grants,\u00a0land reform, and BEE at the forefront.<\/p>\n

“The DA supports Black Economic Empowerment. We support broad-based Black Economic Empowerment because we want to build an inclusive economy in which everybody has a fair chance of getting ahead in life,” the party said in a statement.<\/p>\n

The DA said it hoped to deliver its message to 15 million people, noting that it would release\u00a0detailed policy documents on land reform, social welfare and Black Economic Empowerment.<\/p>\n

“We want to send out the clear signal that we are completely committed to redressing the legacy of apartheid.”<\/p>\n

“That is why the DA is completely committed to broad-based Black Economic Empowerment or B-BBEE as one of the most important ways of redressing the wrongs of the past,” the DA said in a statement.<\/p>\n

\"DA-BEE\"<\/a>

DA BEE billboard<\/p><\/div>\n

“This does not mean that we agree with the way that the government has implemented B-BBEE,” the party stressed, “and it does not mean that our version of B-BBEE is exactly the same as the government’s.”<\/p>\n

The DA argued, up until now, black economic empowerment has focused on the transfer of lucrative shares to a small number of politically connected individuals who have become very rich without starting new enterprises, adding new value or creating new jobs.<\/p>\n

A study<\/a> published in June concluded that black economic empowerment encouraged skilled black people to take the safer, more secure route of working in the formal sector rather than start their own businesses.<\/p>\n

It only served to reinforces white domination of business ownership in South Africa.<\/p>\n

“To correct this, we support the use of a B-BBEE scorecard to stimulate investment by the business community in a broad range of empowerment measures – including skills development, enterprise development and social investment,” the DA said.<\/p>\n

The political party said it is launching an alternative B-BBEE scorecard, with its\u00a0proposed changes achieving a number of objectives.<\/p>\n