BEE under fire: IRR challenges Mashatile to give evidence of BEE “success”

The Institute of Race Relations (IRR) has written to Deputy President Paul Mashatile requesting concrete evidence for his claim that B-BBEE is a “great success” and a non-negotiable part of South Africa’s economic progress.

Six months after the IRR first requested such proof following similar remarks in Parliament, none has been provided.

The IRR’s latest letter follows Mashatile’s statement in Parliament on 19 March that abandoning B-BBEE is “not an option” and the policy is “a necessary tool for transformation, essential for achieving economic equality”.

In the letter, IRR head of strategic communications Hermann Pretorius accuses the Deputy President of dodging honest debate and relying on assertion instead of evidence, despite worsening unemployment, weak growth, and persistent inequality during the BEE era.

Says Pretorius: “The challenge to the Deputy President is rather simple: show the evidence that BEE has reduced unemployment, improved incomes, and boosted growth, or stop claiming that it has. Some in power might believe that South Africans are fools who can be lied to about the socioeconomic circumstances they face each and every day. But Deputy President Mashatile should know that this is hardly the case.”

“The blatant failures of race-based policies like B-BBEE are painfully visible – from service delivery failures to the evidence placed before Parliament and the Madlanga Commission regarding the shameless criminal cronyism that has come to define so many of the government’s shortcomings.”

In its latest letter, the IRR once again rejects Mashatile’s framing that scrapping race-based policy would mean abandoning transformation, calling it a “false choice” that ignores credible non-racial alternatives.

The IRR has again put concrete proposals to the Deputy President, including:

• The No More Race Laws Bill, ending race-based laws and targeting disadvantage directly;
• The Value For Money Bill, fixing procurement to prioritise value for money; and
• The Freedom From Poverty Bill, empowering the poor through direct support, not intermediaries.

The IRR says the Deputy President now owes South Africans a clear answer: where is the evidence that B-BBEE is working?

Adds Pretorius: “South Africans can show their support for a change by signing the petitions on these IRR draft laws. Tens of thousands of people have already shown their support, and the numbers are growing steadily. This is proof if proof were needed that the pressure to change the policy course away from race-based failure is building and making those in power, like the Deputy President, increasingly nervous about their failures.”

Read and endorse the bills mentioned above at the following links:

No More Race Laws Bill: https://irr.org.za/whatsacanbe/no-more-race-laws

Value For Money Bill: https://irr.org.za/whatsacanbe/value-for-money

Freedom From Poverty Bill: https://irr.org.za/whatsacanbe/freedom-from-poverty

Media contact: Hermann Pretorius IRR Head of Strategic Communications Tel: 079 875 4290 Email: hermann@irr.org.za

Media enquiries: Michael Morris Tel: 066 302 1968 Email: michael@irr.org.za