Reflections On The Implementation Of B-Bbee In The Democratic South Africa: Lessons Learnt

Abstract

South African democratic government brought about numerous affirmative action policies with the aim of transforming the economic landscape that was riddled with challenges. Such affirmative action policies included Broad-Based Black - Economic Empowerment (B-BBEE), which gave prospects of empowerment and co-ownership. The notion of (B-BBEE) brought about a lot of excitement amongst the designated groups namely the youth and women, who were previously marginalized at a larger scale, and were hoping to achieve social justice. What made (B-BBEE) more attractive was its five pillars, namely, Ownership (Direct Empowerment), Management Control (Indirect Empowerment), Skills Development, Enterprise Development and Socio-Economic Development. Therefore, the aim of this study was to reflect on the implementation of B-BBEE in the democratic South Africa to draw valuable lessons for improvement. This is because up to date B-BBEE has not achieved its purpose of transforming and empowering the marginalised individuals in society. Instead, the implementation of B-BBEE was marred by corruption and fronting as companies battled to fraudulently acquire better status that would enable them to obtain bigger projects from government. The implementation of the policy benefitted the few politically connected individuals. Thus, the question that is being asked by most South Africans is, does the country still need B-BBEE to transform the economy? What role should the companies play to close the gap between the haves and have nots? Therefore, through extensive review of literature the study arrived at the finding that companies do not play a major role in assisting government achieve economic transformation in South Africa. As a result, economic transformation has remained a slogan in many political parties that are gearing up to stay in power. The study has also concluded that a solid partnership is needed amongst all the stakeholders to uproot corruption and achieve democratic ideals of empowering the previously disadvantaged individuals. Thus, the study recommends that the improved version of B-BBEE is necessary to achieve economic transformation and empower the previously marginalized individuals.