The Black Economic Empowerment Advisory Council (BEEAC) convened a special meeting in Pretoria last month to unpack new proposals that emerged from a prior meeting to accelerate the council’s mandate and pursue radical socioeconomic transformation.

The workshop, convened by President Jacob Zuma, was aimed at scrutinising proposals to deal with the “systematic and structural implementation challenges” of the Broad-Based Black Economic Empowerment Act and engage on the proposed recommendations to realise government’s ambitions on radical socioeconomic transformation.

Trade and Industry Minister Dr Rob Davies said the proposals were intended to strengthen empowerment in South Africa, improve the participation of the marginalised and apply the lessons learnt form preceding initiatives.

While details of the various proposals have not yet been released, with the council still mulling its options and the way forward after the workshop, Davies indicated that the council would work towards implementing various initiatives after securing Cabinet approval.

noted that it was not a deliberate, decision-making meeting, but rather a meeting to engage ideas and gather information that would result in a clearer path forward.

Four focus areas would be used to forge a way forward to enable further opportunities to develop higher levels of inclusivity.

Following the meeting, Davies said procurement as a driver of black business and transformation had emerged as a strong theme, with general agreement that procurement needed to be more carefully considered and crafted, and some suggestions that another approach be adopted that expanded the participation of black business.

A few undisclosed “anomalies” of the scorecard needed to be addressed.

Further, “access to equity” was on the agenda, with many businesses running low on capital and unable to get their heads above water.

There is general consensus that a mechanism to provide increased access to equity is required; however, questions around how it will be structured and its role had been raised, indicating that further engagement is needed.

mplementation was also raised at the workshop as an area that needed attention, with no adequate mechanism to monitor and correct the way in which institutions in government are implementing the Broad-Based Black Economic Empowerment (BBBEE) Act.

“All organs of State must, as far as reasonable, implement the BBBEE Act. There is inconsistency across the board in government,” Davies added.

He suggested there was a need for a more effective agency that was going to ensure implementation and facilitate the transfer of current good practices to other institutions.

“It is about better implementation of our policies,” Davies said.

In addition, the delegates proposed replicating, streamlining and coordinating elements of the Department of Trade and Industry’s Black Industrialist Programme into other sectors, such as construction, commercial farming and service sectors.

“This is still a work in progress and many details need to emerge,” Davies pointed out, noting, however, that he would like a timeline added to such initiatives to accelerate the country’s transformation ambitions.

The workshop was attended by members of the BEEAC, various Ministers and Deputy Ministers, senior government officials and representatives of State-owned enterprises, besides others.