Staff Writer | 23 March 2026 The Supreme Court of Appeal has dismissed attempts to put a stay on South Africa’s new Employment Equity targets imposed on businesses in the country. The Employment Equity Amendment Act and its accompanying two sets of Employment Equity Regulations, including the 5-year sector numerical EE targets for the eighteen economic sectors, came into effect on 1 January 2025 and 15 April 2025, respectively. Under the laws, designated employers in South Af

Siyabonga Goni | 19 March 2026 NSFAS’s controversial outsourcing practices have cost South African taxpayers up to R1bn, exposing failures in managing student accommodation and verifying service provider integrity. The National Student Financial Aid Scheme (NSFAS) is facing fresh scrutiny following a two-year investigation by the Organisation Undoing Tax Abuse (Outa) that exposed a “funding pipeline” riddled with systemic weaknesses, stemming from the introduction of a studen

NRF | 9 March 2026 The National Research Foundation (NRF) is delighted to announce that it has maintained a Broad-Based Black Economic Empowerment (B-BBEE) Level 1 rating. This achievement symbolises the NRF’s commitment to the transformation of the equity profiles of the South African research workforce; the knowledge enterprise; and the relationship between science and society while building a diverse and fully inclusive learning organisation. This achievement also highligh

William Gumede | 13 March 2026 South Africa’s current model of BEE will compound the looming economic crisis. Foreign investors, particularly those establishing new industrial sectors not present in South Africa, but critical to the domestic and global economy, must be exempted from black economic empowerment, and given options to provide alternatives to BEE, whether providing jobs for the youth, supporting manufacturing small and medium-sized enterprises or developing mass s

Mat Cuthbert MP – DA Head of Policy Yesterday, the DA’s Economic Inclusion for All Bill was officially introduced in Parliament. We will now request a first reading debate on this seminal new legislation in the National Assembly. This marks the next step in our fight to replace the ANC’s failed black economic empowerment (BEE) policy, which targets poverty, unlocks opportunity, and attracts investment. The failure of BEE is evident, as 44 million South Africans are trapped in

Babalo Ndenze | 12 March 2026 DIRCO Minister Ronald Lamola defended the ANC’s flagship policy after Bozell this week criticised the legislation and demanded that South Africa scrap the equity law. Minister of International Relations Ronald Lamola said Black Economic Empowerment (BEE) is not “reverse racism” as insinuated by United States (US) ambassador Brent Bozell. Lamola defended the African National Congress (ANC)’s flagship policy after Bozell criticised the legislation

Staff Writer | 10 March 2026 United States Ambassador to South Africa, Leo Brent Bozell III, says Washington is running out of patience with Pretoria’s lack of action on what he called a ‘list of five asks’ delivered to Pretoria a year ago. These ‘asks’ were first reported in June 2025 , based on feedback from a delegation of Afrikaner leaders who met with senior White House officials at the time. While the South African government acknowledged “political” and “ideological” d

Shaun Jacobs | 10 March 2026 Efficient Group chief economist Dawie Roodt believes that the creation of the Transformation Fund will be the end of Black Economic Empowerment (BEE) as it is currently devised in South Africa. BEE will not disappear entirely, but the way in which companies comply with the regulatory framework will fundamentally change. Companies, through the Transformation Fund, will be able to effectively “buy” their BEE compliance rather than have to go throu

Thami Magubane | 4 March 2026 Rules governing Broad-Based Black Economic Empowerment (B-BBEE) must be tightened and made more punitive to ensure compliance and clamp down on criminality such as fronting. These are among the changes called for amid frustration that the policy, which is supposed to uplift the black majority and ensure their participation in the economy, is being undermined by acts of criminality like fronting. Fronting is when a black person pretends to own a b

Ido Lekota | 5 March 2026 The government’s decision to focus on reviewing the implementation of broad-based black economic empowerment (B-BBEE) rather than ending the policy has received another critical endorsement from Black business, development funding institutions such as the National Development Fund (NEF) and the Industrial Development Trust (IDT), traditional leaders, and civil society. This arises from the recent Frank Dialogue on the Future of BEE organised by Prof

Shaun Jacobs | 9 March 2026 Annual Black Economic Empowerment (BEE) compliance costs the South African economy up to R290 billion a year in direct costs, as well as lost economic activity. This equates to around 3% of South Africa’s entire annual GDP. While this is not necessarily a problem in itself, as every policy comes with a tradeoff of sorts and a cost, BEE is coming under increasing scrutiny as to whether it provides any benefit to South Africans. The policy framewor

Zainul Dawood | 4 March 2026 Job creation is a priority for the eThekwini Municipality when they participate in the Global Business Services (GBS) development programme costing R3 million per year. A report from the Economic Development and Planning Committee was approved in council for the GBS sector development programme to undertake development programmes to grow the sector in the eThekwini municipal area and to improve employment creation. The municipality will also enter

Thami Magubane | 5 March 2026 The Commission on Broad-Based Black Economic Empowerment (B-BBEE) has expressed concerns about the lack of transformation in key areas of the property sector. A study by the commission titled “South Africa's Transformation Landscape 2013-2023” has found that the sector is lagging behind in several indicators of transformation on the B-BBEE scorecard. The study tracked macro and sector compliance trends and progress across key B-BBEE elements such

Ian Ferguson | 2 March 2026 Peter Attard Montalto’s most recent column refers (“After the budget delivery is up to line departments”, February 25). Our state does not do “long, hard slogs”, or if it does it is usually to double down on irrational, racial and ideologically damaging economic policies. One example is the Mining Charter, which blocks any foreign direct investment into new mining, the sector that is responsible for the present windfall in tax revenue. Due to the E

Myrna Sachs | 2 March 2026 In today’s rapidly evolving workplace, employee well-being can no longer be viewed through a narrow or purely physical lens. Mental health and invisible disabilities, once considered private or peripheral, are now central to organisational sustainability, productivity and inclusion. Employers and HR leaders have a responsibility to create environments where employees feel safe, seen and supported, even when their challenges are not immediately visib

Luke Fraser | 25 February 2026 Finance Minister Enoch Godongwana says South Africa is finally seeing a shift following over a decade of financial struggles, with debt now stabilising after 17 years. Speaking at the 2026 National Budget, Godongwana said that South Africa is starting to turn the corner. Over the last decade, South Africa has been decimated by state capture, credit downgrades, the Covid-19 pandemic and the grey listing by the Financial Action Task Force (FATF) i

SA News | 25 February 2026 Transformation will not succeed unless all key stakeholders embrace it, defend it and implement it with conviction. This is according to the Minister of Trade, Industry and Competition, Parks Tau. He was speaking during the historic engagement session between the Department of Trade, Industry and Competition and all 11 Broad-Based Black Economic Empowerment (B-BBEE) Sector Charter Councils in Pretoria on Tuesday. The session marked the first time

Jeanette Chabalala | 23 February 2026 Business tycoon Sandile Zungu says while control of the economy is firmly in the hands of a minority, 90% of black South Africans have no meaningful management or control of the economy. “It is a despicable situation. It is unacceptable. It has got to be challenged,” Zungu said in an interview with Sowetan editor Sibongakonke Shoba for the podcast show In the Know. According to Zungu, whites make up 10% or less of the population — a figur

Tasneem Bulbulia | 19 February 2026 The Competition Tribunal has confirmed, as an order, a consent agreement between the Competition Commission and Wilmar SA (formerly Wilmar Continental Edible Oils and Fats). Although it has agreed to enter into a consent agreement and pay a settlement amount of R1-million among other requirements, Wilmar denies having contravened the Competition Act. In December 2016, the commission initiated a complaint against Wilmar and other firms for a

Staff Writer | 22 February 2026 President Cyril Ramaphosa has doubled down on Black Economic Empowerment in South Africa, saying that instead of loosening the laws or heeding calls to abolish them, the country should lean into taking them further. Responding to the debate on his State of the Nation Address last week, the president chided political parties, including those within the Government of National Unity (GNU), for wanting to scrap the laws. He insisted that broad-base