1. BEE perpetuates racial discrimination. Racial discrimination was wrong during Apartheid times. It continues to be wrong in post-Apartheid times. The Population Registration Act was abolished when Apartheid ended, with good reason. Without it, what basis is there for identifying South Africans as belonging to one of the four (only four!) racial groups?
2. BEE is monumentally expensive. It diverts money away from productive uses – e.g. education or investment in infrastructure – and to the creation of departments, inspectorates and accreditation agencies that contribute nothing to the economy.
3. BEE deters local and foreign investment. Not only because it is onerous and costly, but also because it is complex, opaque and subject to change without notice. It is a drag on the economy that contributes to unemployment and low growth.
4. BEE is unjust. It excludes the vast majority of the population from its supposed benefits, and instead creates a society of insiders and cronies.
5. BEE covers up problems. It creates the illusion that we are creating a more integrated economy and society, when what we are really doing is perpetuating a society split in two – between well-educated haves and poorly-educated have-nots.
6. BEE does not work because it diverts attention from the real problem: collapsing education. If as much attention were focused on education as on BEE, South Africa would be on a much better footing.
7. BEE is immoral. It gives the poor, who are mostly black, the illusion that the government is doing something to improve their lot, and it allows whites to think they are buying social peace at a reasonable price. Both are mistaken.
Good arguments. The problem with this line of reasoning is that the government will see it as a predominantly white argument that attempts to entrench their hegemony. I can't see that they'll scrap BEE and I don't think that the government specifically needs to officially scrap it. If they continue on their current transformation agenda the policy will die a very natural death because it is impossible to implement. We are seeing the fruits of this in the mining sector and we will certainly see this happening if Rob and DTI get their codes gazetted.