In a way, the department’s requirement that Massmart specify its local procurement levels is bizarre. It is the government, for goodness sake, and importation levels are part of its function. It taxes on the basis of imports; it should be telling us what these levels are, not asking retailers to tell them, and if it doesn’t know, it should find out.
The disturbing thing is that the unions have, late in the day, called "their" department to bring the tribunal into line. But it has little ammunition with which to do so and is reduced to making unrealistic demands based on sketchy facts. Other government departments don’t appear nearly so worried and the African National Congress has actually welcomed Walmart’s investment in broad terms. This suggests ANC alliance politics is translating into departmental niches in a haphazard and uncoordinated way. And that’s the real problem in this debate.
I focused on the BEE aspects of the competition commission and Massmart - this paragraph gets to the nub of the issue.
The department they refer to is the Department of Economic Planning (Ebie's bag).
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