President Cyril Ramaphosa has defended Black Economic Empowerment policies adding that they will not be scrapped.
Ramaphosa also dismissed claims by the official opposition on Thursday, during questions in the National Assembly, that BEE policies were discriminatory.
He said the government will not back down in pushing for BEE in the country.
“If we take steps to promote BEE it is wrong for those who think it is a racist policy. I’m frankly surprised at those who having enjoyed the privileges of the past regime take umbrage, are very angry when those who did not enjoy the privileges are lifted up,” said Ramaphosa.
He said those who were on top of the building must not push down those trying to move up the ladder. He said they must not kick the ladder away to stop people going up.
Ramaphosa also said they were continuing with the fight against gender-based violence.
Parliament is currently processing three laws to tightening up loose ends in the law to clamp down against those involved in the killing of women and children.
Ramaphosa also defended his economic recovery plan saying it would turn around the economy.
He said the latest figures by Statistics South Africa showed unemployed has gone up to 30.8%.
This follows a jobs bloodbath after the outbreak of Covid-19.
He said the government was responding to the crisis of unemployment.
“As a government we are responding to the crisis we are facing. That is why we came up with the economic recovery plan. Yes, our unemployment has gone up,” he said.
He said the figures released by StatsSA were shocking. But he said there were green-shoots beginning to emerge.
Political Bureau