Results 1 to 8 of 8

Thread: If you were to redo BEE, how would you do it?

Hybrid View

Previous Post Previous Post   Next Post Next Post
  1. #1
    just me duncan drennan's Avatar
    Join Date
    Jun 2006
    Location
    Cape Town
    Posts
    2,642
    Thanks
    119
    Thanked 94 Times in 77 Posts

    If you were to redo BEE, how would you do it?

    I'm sure we've all heard many arguments for and against BEE, some of the things that we hear more regularly (at least us whities) go along these lines,

    Government strategy has created a tiny black elite! Black Economic Empowerment (BEE) favours rampant crony capitalism! BEE is just corporate trickle down to the black middle class! Black empowerment is no more broad-based than Jacob Zuma’s bank balance!
    Those are the opening lines of the M&G article, "The uneasy logic of black empowerment," by Roger Southall.

    There are two things that I think are worth highlighting, firstly,

    But the logic of BEE also has a considerable downside. ANC theory envisaged a growing black capitalist stratum as “patriotic capitalists”, marching unselfishly to the party drum and spreading their wealth around their historically impoverished communities. Yet upwardly mobile capitalist classes don’t act like that, particularly within a consumerist culture which emphasises ostentatious display and the virtues of getting rich quickly.
    Essentially the theory is that we are all patriots and will use out money/power/time/etc. to empower out communities. Put black people in positions of power and the natural flow will result in broad-based empowerment.

    Secondly,

    BEE remains a necessary political project. Leaving white capital to transform itself is like asking the devil to convert to Catholicism. But the challenges are immense: can a well-intentioned but under-capacitated state shape a socially responsible capitalism, or is BEE creating an avaricious class of black capitalists tied to the coattails of international capital?
    I have to agree on that comment about white capital transforming itself - without external pressure would it have ever happened?

    So here are some of my own random thoughts and questions....

    If black people are at the top, are they more likely to appoint black people underneath them? In a way that is what is implied, but in reality, does a black entrepreneur appoint another black person, or just the best person?

    What incentive is there for the business owner to be "patriotic"? There are tax benefits for certain training actions, and donations to certain PBOs. In reality, how many people make use of those?

    If you had the opportunity to reform the BEE setup in South Africa, how would you do it?

    Assume that we want to move towards a country were each person has equal opportunity, and that not everyone has had equal opportunity (as is the reality of where we currently are). Why would people be motivated to follow your scheme more than the current one?
    [SIGPIC]Engineer Simplicity[/SIGPIC]
    Turn ideas into products | The Art of Engineering blog

  2. #2
    Site Caretaker Dave A's Avatar
    Join Date
    May 2006
    Location
    Durban, South Africa
    Posts
    22,658
    Thanks
    3,307
    Thanked 2,677 Times in 2,258 Posts
    Blog Entries
    12
    Aaah. A challenge indeed.

    I'm going to shoot for a short post for now, and try for something in more detail later.

    To me the key lies in education and training. We have to equip people better, to develop the capacity to create wealth.

    From there, I think we have to divide BEE strategies into two sections:
    • An approach to establish representivity in big business, and
    • An approach to establish representivity in small enterprises

    My main reason for differentiating between the two is particularly the level of capital (hard cash) involved more than anything else.

    Developing a workable strategy from there has two major factors:
    • How long a timeframe are you going to allow to allow what level of transformation?
    • How much redistribution can be deemed acceptable, or will this be achieved purely through growth?


    How's that for a starting point.

  3. #3
    Site Caretaker Dave A's Avatar
    Join Date
    May 2006
    Location
    Durban, South Africa
    Posts
    22,658
    Thanks
    3,307
    Thanked 2,677 Times in 2,258 Posts
    Blog Entries
    12
    I was reading this article on IOL: Should we pull the plug on AA?. A couple of thoughts occured, but this comment on the article really struck me:
    Motau: EE should stay and even drastically implemented. South African whites are spoilt and they think that they can do whatever they want.
    And my thought on this was:
    The problem is not that whites think they can do whatever they want to. The real problem is that my fellow citizen Motau doesn't feel the same way!

  4. #4
    Site Caretaker Dave A's Avatar
    Join Date
    May 2006
    Location
    Durban, South Africa
    Posts
    22,658
    Thanks
    3,307
    Thanked 2,677 Times in 2,258 Posts
    Blog Entries
    12
    I was thinking of this question whilst I was mowing the lawn. It actually is a trick question because it assumes BEE is the solution and that the only question is how to impliment it. I'm not convinced.

    We need put some effort into identifying the problem that needs to be fixed first.

    As an aside, I was also wondering when last our poor=black Minister of Labour last mowed the lawn.

  5. #5
    just me duncan drennan's Avatar
    Join Date
    Jun 2006
    Location
    Cape Town
    Posts
    2,642
    Thanks
    119
    Thanked 94 Times in 77 Posts
    Quote Originally Posted by Dave A View Post
    We need put some effort into identifying the problem that needs to be fixed first.
    Well, let's look at the problem...

    Firstly, there is an uneven distribution of wealth. Now this is not unusual for a capitalist society, and is even to be expected, but the problem is that the current(?) distribution is a result of the oppression of a majority group, by a minority group. As a result of that oppression many (most) people have not had equal opportunity. It is that equal opportunity that forms a foundation for a democratic capitalist society.

    So the question (challenge) is, how do we move towards a society where the same opportunities are available to each group of people, with no regard to colour or creed?

    One of this biggest challenges in trying to achieve this is that when we started (in 1994) the tables were disproportionally tipped in the favour of the previous ruling minority - i.e. the whites. Access to good education, housing, and jobs presented us (the whites) with opportunities far beyond those of the majority of our country. Those opportunities were ours largely as a result of years of oppression of the majority of the population.

    To draw an analogy with athletics, the whites got to jump the gun. Eventually, in the long run, the field will even out, but that will take many years. The government is therefore faced with the challenge of evening the field out faster, so that firstly they can remain in power, and secondly we are not faced with a rebellion or revolution (or a land/property grab).

    Essentially the government had to stack the odds in the favour of the previously oppressed group to compress the time frame within which the redistribution of opportunity occurs.

    So that is how I would frame the problem. We need to present equal opportunity to all race groups within a defined (i.e. short) time frame.

    Thoughts?
    [SIGPIC]Engineer Simplicity[/SIGPIC]
    Turn ideas into products | The Art of Engineering blog

  6. #6
    Site Caretaker Dave A's Avatar
    Join Date
    May 2006
    Location
    Durban, South Africa
    Posts
    22,658
    Thanks
    3,307
    Thanked 2,677 Times in 2,258 Posts
    Blog Entries
    12
    My first thought is that promoting a person beyond their ability certainly isn't going to help.

    So the first step is to equip people. Fix the education program. Spreading the resources too thin will dilute the effect.

    My second thought is that the ability to generate wealth (add value) is going to finance all this. So protect the wealth generation engine. Certainly do not hamstring it.

    My final thought for the evening is like it or not, it's going to take at least a generation, possibly even two, for the results to really show.

Similar Threads

  1. Where are the final BEE codes?
    By Dave A in forum BEE and Employment Equity Forum
    Replies: 15
    Last Post: 11-Feb-07, 08:55 PM
  2. are the BEE cracks starting to show?
    By duncan drennan in forum BEE and Employment Equity Forum
    Replies: 3
    Last Post: 27-Nov-06, 10:28 AM
  3. Change the BEE rules - Cyril Ramaphosa
    By Dave A in forum BEE and Employment Equity Forum
    Replies: 1
    Last Post: 22-Nov-06, 02:02 PM
  4. R285 billion in BEE deals in ten years.
    By Dave A in forum BEE and Employment Equity Forum
    Replies: 0
    Last Post: 08-Nov-06, 08:21 PM
  5. Holcim disinvesting via BEE?
    By duncan drennan in forum BEE and Employment Equity Forum
    Replies: 0
    Last Post: 01-Nov-06, 02:41 PM

Tags for this Thread

Did you like this article? Share it with your favourite social network.

Did you like this article? Share it with your favourite social network.

Posting Permissions

  • You may not post new threads
  • You may not post replies
  • You may not post attachments
  • You may not edit your posts
  •