{"id":36407,"date":"2022-09-05T16:36:54","date_gmt":"2022-09-05T16:36:54","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/south-africa\/all-news\/analysis-only-sas-elite-benefits-from-black-economic-empowerment-and-covid-19-proved-it"},"modified":"2022-09-05T16:48:52","modified_gmt":"2022-09-05T16:48:52","slug":"analysis-only-sas-elite-benefits-from-black-economic-empowerment-and-covid-19-proved-it","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/south-africa\/all-news\/analysis-only-sas-elite-benefits-from-black-economic-empowerment-and-covid-19-proved-it","title":{"rendered":"ANALYSIS | Only SA\u2019s elite benefits from black economic empowerment \u2013 and Covid-19 proved it"},"content":{"rendered":"

Africa-Press – South-Africa. <\/strong><\/span>Black economic empowerment policy was corrupted by officials appointed by the ANC and has been used to perpetrate economic crimes, argues Casper Lotter.<\/b><\/p>\n

More than two decades ago the South African government put in place a policy designed to redress racial imbalances in the country\u2019s economy. But, as I suggest in a recent paper, the policy \u2013 known as broad-based black economic empowerment) \u2013 has been hijacked and repurposed by individuals and factions within the ruling African National Congress (ANC) for the purpose of corruption and self-enrichment.<\/p>\n

This was particularly noticeable during the Covid pandemic. The government\u2019s Special Investigating Unit found that corruption or fraud accounted for 66% of all national funding set aside for the procurement of personal protective equipment.<\/p>\n

I argue that the empowerment policy has been corrupted by officials appointed by the ANC and has been used to perpetrate economic crimes. I contend that the policy, as an ideological vehicle, was repurposed for self-enrichment.<\/p>\n

I argue that the repurposed policy benefits only a tiny group, amid widespread unemployment, economic stagnation and poverty.<\/p>\n

The policy: how it was envisagedThe original intention of the black economic empowerment policy to transform the South African economy by enhancing the participation of black people. The aim was to erase systemic racist inequities that had built up over centuries.<\/p>\n

Before 1994, economic opportunities were denied African people. The policy set out to redress this historical imbalance in all spheres of the economy and society.<\/p>\n

The initiative was wide-ranging. It included employment equity, skills development and preferential procurement. Another aspect was enterprise development, in terms of ownership and management representation.<\/p>\n

In this way, the policy was meant to address issues that affected most black people \u2013 unemployment, economic stagnation and poverty \u2013 not just the elites.<\/p>\n

But its repurposing has benefited a small elite, who have, with few exceptions, escaped accountability. Predictably, very few people have been charged with Covid tender corruption. And those exposing corrupt practices open themselves up to severe danger. A shocking example was the assassination of Babita Deokaran. She was a provincial health department whistle blower for the Special Investigating Unit, which had been looking into a multi-million rand scandal over the supply of personal protective equipment.<\/p>\n

This lack of accountability is described by Jeffrey Reiman, an American conflict criminologist, in what he describes as \u201cPyrrhic defeat theory\u201d. He contends that the criminal justice system in capitalist states demonises the poor to deflect the crimes of the rich.<\/p>\n

In South Africa, the justice system is much more focused on crimes generally committed by poor people than on the crimes largely committed by the affluent and the politically connected.<\/p>\n

Stanley Cohen, a world expert on crimes committed by the state, suggests that crimes committed by the rich and powerful are rarely prosecuted.<\/p>\n

The hijackingIn my paper I show how vested interests in the South African government used the Covid-19 pandemic as a form of disaster capitalism. This is a term coined by the Canadian social and political activist Naomi Klein. By latching onto natural disasters, such as Covid-19, rich industrialists \u201cremake\u201d the scene, resulting in great profits for themselves. Klein explains:<\/p>\n

(once a crisis) has struck \u2026 it was crucial to act swiftly, to impose rapid and irreversible change before the crisis-racked society slipped back into the \u2018tyranny of the status quo\u2019.<\/p>\n

In the case of Covid-19 in South Africa, the authoritarian measures used in the hard lockdown provided the conditions under which people could more easily divert contracts to patronage networks.<\/p>\n

An added factor that has enabled the repurposing of the black economic empowerment policy has been the ANC\u2019s cadre-based deployment policy. This involves the government appointing members of the governing party to government positions irrespective of their competence. This has led to the creation of vast patronage networks within the ANC.<\/p>\n

As South African political analyst Ralph Mathekga suggests in his well-informed book The ANC\u2019s Last Decade (2021),<\/p>\n

decisions (were) made to serve the patronage networks flowing through the ANC to benefit the interests of an elite group of party officials and businessmen.<\/p>\n

The crux of my argument is that black economic empowerment has become a disguise which has been repeatedly used to hoodwink the public. It is being used to enrich a few people while masquerading as a vehicle for mass empowerment.<\/p>\n

This same criminal modus operandi was essentially employed during the Covid pandemic. In particular, the supply and distribution of the vaccine and personal protective equipment were enacted within the framework of the policy. Contracts were awarded solely on the criterion of being aligned to the ANC. Merit or even qualified merit didn\u2019t matter.<\/p>\n

Perfect stormEconomic redress is clearly justified in view of South Africa\u2019s failed project of economic redistribution \u2013 one of the ANC\u2019s election promises in 1994. But the vast majority of South Africans of all races are excluded from the benefits as corruption has taken hold.<\/p>\n

The confluence of state capture (a process whereby state resources and institutions were appropriated on a gigantic scale to benefit a tiny minority of \u201ctenderpreneurs\u201d and politically connected people), as well as patronage networks within the ANC, created a perfect storm. It culminated in the government\u2019s opportunistic response to the pandemic, even if one concedes that a mere faction within the ruling party drove the initiative in favour of self-enrichment.<\/p>\n

Casper Lotter, Research fellow, North-West University<\/p>\n

For More News And Analysis About South-Africa<\/a> Follow Africa-Press<\/a><\/strong><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Africa-Press – South-Africa. Black economic empowerment policy was corrupted by officials appointed by the ANC and has been used to perpetrate economic crimes, argues Casper Lotter. More than two decades ago the South African government put in place a policy designed to redress racial imbalances in the country\u2019s economy. But, as I suggest in a […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":84,"featured_media":36406,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[2,6,8],"tags":[274,315,3262,308,3261,275],"class_list":["post-36407","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-all-news","category-files","category-homepage-english","tag-africa-press","tag-africa-press-south-africa","tag-black-economic-empowerment","tag-corruption","tag-covid","tag-south-africa-2"],"yoast_head":"\nANALYSIS | Only SA\u2019s elite benefits from black economic empowerment \u2013 and Covid-19 proved it - South Africa<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"Black economic empowerment policy was corrupted by officials appointed by the ANC and has been used to perpetrate eco ...\" \/>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" 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