NTHABISENG MOLEKO | B-BBEE is justice and the only way forward

To revive South Africa’s economy, leadership across government, business, labour, and civil society must act in unison.

For too long, our national economic discourse has been marked by division, short-term interests, and an erosion of shared purpose. Yet economic renewal will not emerge from fragmentation. It requires a common vision that acknowledges both our history and the unfinished business of transformation.

The latest Quarterly Labour Force Survey is a sobering reminder of the scale of exclusion: more than 12.6-million South Africans remain outside of formal economic participation. This means the majority of households live without access to ownership, productive assets, or income derived from meaningful economic activity.

The consequences of this exclusion are visible across every sector. From agriculture and manufacturing to plastics and retail, market concentration and dominance by a few established players continue to define our economy. SMEs — the very drivers of innovation, jobs, and growth — struggle to survive in markets that remain structurally unequal and prohibitively expensive to enter.

Over the past 30 years, democracy has brought undeniable progress — but also difficult lessons. Economic power remains concentrated in the hands of an elite minority, while millions of black South Africans, particularly women, youth, and rural entrepreneurs, remain locked out of the mainstream economy. The intent of Broad-Based Black Economic Empowerment (B-BBEE) was to correct this imbalance.

B-BBEE was never intended to create new elites but to open doors for those who had been systematically excluded from ownership, skills development, and economic opportunity. It is, therefore, troubling that for some, transformation has come to be seen as an obstacle rather than a catalyst for growth. That misconception must be challenged.

True transformation is not about enriching a few; it is about broadening participation, unlocking potential, and ensuring that prosperity is shared

B-BBEE remains the most effective instrument for building inclusivity and correcting the deep structural inequities of our past. To realise its full potential, however, we must move beyond compliance and focus on genuine transformation that not only allows participation but also actively advances redistribution and shared growth. Transformation must be judged by the impact it has on people’s lives, by whether it creates jobs, helps businesses grow, and leaves communities stronger than before.

For too long, South Africa has relied on market-led growth, assuming that the benefits would trickle down. The data shows this has not materialised. Our economy continues to expand at around 1% per year, while emerging markets and Sub-Saharan Africa grow at 4–6%. Private investment has declined to historic lows, with gross fixed capital formation falling from 18% of GDP a decade ago to 13.8% today.

This is more than stagnation. It reflects an investment strike, where profits are retained rather than reinvested into productive capacity. Dividends are declared, but factories are not built; profits rise, but employment does not. Such withholding of capital undermines not only transformation but long-term growth itself.

Evidence from the B-BBEE Commission demonstrates what can be achieved when transformation is implemented with intent. In the five years before the pandemic, more than R100bn in ownership deals were concluded annually. Every year, roughly R10bn was channelled into enterprise and supplier development and into equipping South Africans with the skills to enter and thrive in the economy.

These figures demonstrate that empowerment, when genuine, delivers both growth and opportunity.

Inclusive growth cannot occur if the majority remain economically excluded. South Africa must now pursue redistributive growth that deliberately broadens participation across race, gender, geography, and class. That requires aligning policy across the economic cluster, strengthening state capacity, and developing a genuine partnership between the public and private sectors.

However, this partnership must be reciprocal. Government must deliver efficiency, accountability, and good governance, but the private sector must also commit to reinvestment, market access, and equitable opportunity. We cannot build an inclusive economy if reinvestment remains optional.

At the National Empowerment Fund (NEF), we witness the power of transformation every day. In 2024/25 alone, we invested R1.01bn in 197 SMEs, supporting the creation of more than 13,600 jobs and expanding economic value, tax revenues, and household incomes. Nearly 60% of this funding went toward reindustrialising the manufacturing sector, a clear signal of our commitment to building a productive, inclusive economy.

Through empowerment instruments and the forthcoming Transformation Fund, the NEF continues to demonstrate that B-BBEE and competitiveness are not opposites but mutually reinforcing forces.

True transformation is not about enriching a few; it is about broadening participation, unlocking potential, and ensuring that prosperity is shared. To do otherwise would be to ignore both our history and our constitutional obligation to advance equality.

If we are to build an inclusive economy, every South African must have a stake in it, not as spectators, but as active participants and beneficiaries of growth. That is the essence of empowerment. It is not charity. It is justice, and it is the only sustainable path to shared prosperity.

• Moleko is the chair of the National Empowerment Fund