What does the ANCs continued endorsement mean to your business

Secretary Fikile Mbalula confirmed the African National Congress’s (ANC) commitment to black economic empowerment. Mbalula warned the ANC would not abandon its transformation agenda, including Broad-Based Black Economic Empowerment (BBBEE), despite pressure from Washington and its political allies.

This is not an unexpected response from the ANC. They have long championed the process of empowerment. Having noted that, it’s not clear that the ANC actually understands the basic rudiments of the BEE process. It’s possible that a percentage of their members are able to merely sign an affidavit and they are BEE compliant.

To me, when the ANC refers to BEE, they are in fact only referring to the ownership element. Anything that might threaten that single element will come across considerable resistance. Think how the Starlink issue has polarized the GNU.

Are we then to be concerned about our businesses when the ANC speaks about BEE?

The ANC is nowhere near as powerful as they once were. They are clinging onto concepts that bolstered their popularity in the past, hence a continued endorsement of BEE. I don’t think that this statement has much credence because the future of BEE lies within the private sector and not the government. It’s the private sector that will decide whether BEE continues by supporting or rejecting it. And this continued support is not as strong as it used to be.

If the ANC’s concept of BEE is limited to ownership what are your options?

Make sure that everything you do to comply is built on short-term objectives. This is the period of adaptability. It’s unlikely that shareholding would change unless it was enforced by the government. This in itself does pose a threat to the business. But there are other options that deal with compliance that can withstand a change in legislation.

11 Aug 2025