THOUGHT LEADERSHIP
B-BBEE
AN 18-YEAR OVERVIEW By Hon. Zodwa Ntuli, Commissioner: B-BBEE Commission
This year marks 27 years since the advent of democracy
equality clause in the Constitution of South Africa
as well as 18 years since the enactment of the Broad
was carefully considered as the authority for the
Based Black Economic Empowerment (B-BBEE) legislation
notion of redressing economic inequalities and
and policy. Almost three decades into our democracy,
deracialising the economy. Then the government
and close to two decades of the B-BBEE Act, a real and
adopted the B-BBEE strategy, and later the B-BBEE
honest reflection on the state of economic empowerment
Act (Act 53 of 2003, as amended by Act 46 of 2013),
of black people in South Africa is warranted.
as a mechanism to bring to reality the Constitutions aspiration: bridging economic inequalities in South
We cannot properly reflect without recalling the
Africa. In essence, the meaning behind the laws was
reasons for laws addressing the empowerment of
far greater than mere compliance with legislation
black people, in the context of the economy. The
and adherence to policy.
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IMPUMELELO TOP EMPOWERMENT
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