Parliament - Parliament has slammed the DA’s decision to end its backing of the black economic empowerment (BEE) policy.
The chairperson of the portfolio committee on labour in Parliament, Lemias Mashile, said on Saturday this demonstrated the party wanted the economy to remain in white hands.
Mashile added that BEE was the only policy that advanced the scope of black people’s participation and employment in the mainstream economy.
DA head of policy Gwen Ngwenya confirmed the federal council had endorsed the decision to dump BEE for the reason that it was not working.
But Mashile disputed this, saying the policy reflected the government’s commitment to get more black people participating in the economy.
“BEE is there to expand the reach of economic transformation we are busy with.
“BEE is there to ensure the economy is transformed.”
He said the DA also did not support the RDP programme that allocated houses to poor black people.
“The DA has also said they would scrap the provision of houses to the people,” said Mashile.
The government has presented statistics in Parliament showing that of the companies on the Johannesburg Stock Exchange, very few were in the hands of back people.
A few years ago, the government introduced the Black Industrialists Programme to get more black people in control of industries. The government allocated R100 billion to the programme.