READER LETTER | GNU must fast-track BBBEE project

It’s encouraging to hear the minister of trade, industry and competition Parks Tau assure the nation that the broad-based BEE (BBBEE) policy would be kept on the rails. What inspires confidence is the fact that Tau clarified his focus on accelerating the implementation of policy.

This was necessary to counter a misleading narrative driven by the self-absorbed liberals and their right-wing associates, who seem not to have a pennyworth of sense that colonialism and apartheid system wrought out white privilege to condemn black people into the present day inequality, poverty and miserable living conditions. It’s the very privilege that caused the education, health and economic disparities in SA.

It cannot be overstated that BBBEE remains a centrepiece of redress for black people to walk out of this designed servitude and its related trap of dependency.

One thing for sure is that BBBEE aided some in gainful employment to transition into self-employment. Other professionals and executives were able to take advantage of the spate of empowerment deals. All this stimulated an appetite for black people to venture into entrepreneurship and increase a pool of small businesses owned and managed by them.

The subsequent decline in growth of those businesses was due to the unbridled corruption, loadshedding and noncompliance with payment of suppliers within 30 days by various government departments.

That has hitherto constrained the small business development in society to directly affect on the livelihoods of ordinary folks. It’s, therefore, unimaginable to expect impoverished enterprises to advance as black industrialists in an unconducive environment that is weak on consequence management.

The vicious cycle of nonpayment of invoices owed by the state for the services duly rendered must be broken by this administration. It’s a collaborative effort worth pursuing with a will to raise households out of indigence.’

Morgan Phaahla, Ekurhuleni