Sitting in the packed hall at the Coastlands Umhlanga Hotel, I was struck by the weight of the moment. Deputy President Paul Mashatile did not mince his words. He reminded us that after three decades of democracy, entrenched economic patterns remain stubbornly intact.
He drew a clear line between transformative policies — which expand rights, redistribute opportunities, and foster social justice — and oppressive policies — which historically entrenched exclusion and maintained hierarchies. In his words, Broad-Based Black Economic Empowerment (B-BBEE) is not a burden but a moral obligation, rooted in the constitution’s call for corrective action.
Transformative policies compel institutions to diversify, to invest in skills, and to measure inclusion in tangible terms. Without delivery, transformation risks becoming rhetoric.
While B-BBEE has been a cornerstone of transformation, its uneven implementation has left many South Africans sceptical.
But notable progress has been reported in sectors like mining and finance, though uneven, showing that transformation is happening beyond the boardrooms of the already empowered.
What resonated most was Mashatile’s insistence that abandoning B-BBEE is not an option. “Policy legitimacy depends on outcomes,” he said, warning that fronting and paper-based compliance erode trust. This was not rhetoric, it was a call to action.
The deputy president’s acknowledgment of youth exclusion was sobering. With unemployment among 15– to 24-year-olds at 57% the urgency is undeniable. Women’s economic inclusion, too, was highlighted as “non-negotiable”.
Agriculture and the ocean economy were singled out as sectors where transformation has lagged. The statistic that Black farmers contribute only 10% of commercial agricultural output was a stark reminder of how far we still have to go.
What I found most compelling was his push for a new B-BBEE model that aligns with broader economic policy. He argued that empowerment cannot exist in isolation; it must be integrated with industrial, competition, fiscal, and monetary policies. This is a bold but necessary shift.
The closing message was clear: B-BBEE is not a cost, but an investment in sustainable growth. If government and business heed this call, B-BBEE can finally move from paper to practice, and from promise to impact.
South Africa’s broader transformation agenda depends on whether we treat these policies as living instruments of justice or as compliance checklists.
- Tshifhiwa Singo, Pretoria
US and Israel can’t afford a long war
Public discussion of the conflict involving the US, Israel and Iran often focuses on dramatic military exchanges. Yet the deeper reality may lie in the basic mathematics of the war.
The US and Israel appear to believe that rapid and overwhelming military force will break Iran’s resistance. Reports indicate that more than 2,000 air strikes were launched against Iranian targets in the early stages of the conflict, including facilities linked to the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps. The expectation seemed to be that such pressure would force Iran to surrender quickly.
Iran’s strategy appears very different. It does not need to defeat the US and Israel on the battlefield. It only needs to survive long enough to turn the conflict into a war of attrition.
Here the numbers are revealing. Iranian ballistic missiles cost roughly $100,000 to produce. By contrast, the systems used to intercept them are far more expensive. American THAAD interceptors cost between $12m and $15m each, while other interception systems also cost millions per launch.
The arithmetic is stark. A missile costing about $100,000 may require $12m to destroy it.
Production capacity makes this imbalance even greater. Iran can produce large numbers of missiles, while advanced interceptor systems are slow and expensive to manufacture. In June last year, the US reportedly used 15–20% of its global THAAD interceptor stockpile in only 12 days.
The result is a simple strategic reality: the longer the war continues, the more difficult and expensive it becomes for the US and Israel to defend against these missiles. Israel may soon have to ration interceptors as supplies decline.
For this reason, the structure of the conflict points to one likely outcome. If Iran simply endures and continues producing relatively inexpensive missiles, the growing cost and pressure on its opponents will make the US–Israeli strategy unsustainable and ultimately lead to failure
- Faseeg Manie, Plumstead
Zimbabweans vote with their feet
Under the leadership of President Emmerson Mnangagwa, Zimbabwe continues to face deepening economic hardship that has forced thousands of its citizens to leave the country in search of stability and opportunity abroad. The reality for many Zimbabweans has been worsening inflation, currency instability, unemployment, and declining public services.
Financial decisions made under Mnangagwa’s administration have contributed significantly to this crisis. Repeated currency changes, lack of confidence in monetary policy, and inconsistent economic reforms have eroded savings and crushed small businesses. Ordinary citizens bear the brunt of these policies, watching the cost of basic goods skyrocket while wages remain stagnant. For many families, survival has become a daily struggle.
The result is a steady wave of emigration. Skilled professionals — nurses, teachers, engineers, and graduates — are leaving Zimbabwe in large numbers. This “brain drain” weakens the country further, stripping it of the very talent needed to rebuild and reform its economy.
The people of Zimbabwe have shown resilience. What they need now is leadership that matches their strength with integrity, competence, and genuine commitment to national renewal. Mnangagwa and his party cannot continue to cripple future generations while the world stands aside and watches.
- Michael Tinarwo, Warrington
The road to discrimination
Charisse Zeifert is right to call the Roedean tennis boycott what it was: discrimination (“Calling discrimination by its proper name”, February 22 2026). What makes it so disturbing is how familiar the reasoning is to South Africans.
As South Africans, we should be all too familiar with where discrimination, especially involving children, gets us. When a school declines to play another because of who the other pupils are, the message is unmistakable, regardless of the political language used to justify it. If we would condemn a school refusing to play another because its pupils are black, Muslim, Afrikaans, foreign or from any other group, we should condemn it here too.
Discrimination does not become acceptable because it is fashionable, or because it is presented as activism. Roedean’s apology should be welcomed. But the deeper lesson is that we cannot allow identity-based exclusion to creep back into our schools under a new set of justifications. We have been down that road before. We should not return to it.
- Nicholas Woode-Smith, Cape Town
Our justice system is broken
Barney Mthombothi’s column (“We need a reformed, revamped JSC”) argues that the institutions overseeing our judges are broken. My personal experience with the Judicial Conduct Committee (JCC) proves he is right.
In December 2021, I lodged a complaint against a Labour Court judge who took two years to deliver a judgment — her reason being workload. The JCC appointed a judge to hear my complaint. He did not indicate that he sat on my original matter. He was effectively judge in his own case. I objected.
A new panel was appointed. Two of three judges agreed the process had been unfair and that the first adjudicator should have recused himself. I then sought impeachment for both judges: one for unreasonable delay, the other for sitting while conflicted. Again, two of three agreed. But the third dissented — and that single vote blocked impeachment.
The result? The first judge was told to apologise. The conflicted judge received a warning. No impeachment. No removal. No public accountability.
Mthombothi asks how flawed individuals end up on the bench. I ask: how do they stay there? When a single dissenting voice can shield misconduct, the system is not just flawed — it is broken. If these cases never appear in the JCC’s annual report, that silence is itself a failure.
Reform must extend beyond the JSC to the entire judicial accountability structure.
- Baker Govender, via e-mail
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