Opera News | 13 February 2023
As we reject legalized bribery I am one person who never believed in Black Economic EMPOWERMENT (BEE) policy, for whatever motivation in my eyes BEE is a legalized bribery in which white capital is allowed to bribe black elites for the continued plundering of our resources and license to make black people poor. Politicians were eager for access to riches and quickly got the policy approved looking back it's still what it was intended, bribery
If we were to speak about true black empowered economy we should be referring to an economy that is led by black people, are producers and consumers of the goods and services and also being majority owners of capital. Once you talk of schemes in which the 94% of population are given a mere 30% of the economic ownership of business then you are structuring inequality, and giving the minority the right to continue milking the economy. After all even the 30% shares the black people were not given skills and opportunity to manage the companies.
We may differ on the approach but the biggest sin we have committed is to allow thieves to continue ownership of property that is a results of stolen money, companies built on racially skewed laws that made one race to accumulate at the expense of the majority who for centuries, they were excluded and dispossessed of their land.
I for one think we need ECONOMIC JUSTICE, if we were serious about ensuring black people are compensated for the hundreds of years of looting we should demand that every white company should contribute to a fund for black ownership, and cede 51% ownership to black entrepreneurs.
I know that many will talk about corruption which is true but a committed society must speak of the need to settle the past, launch a program to provide skills and capital to black people at lower level than picking black elites who use their proximity to power and boardrooms to amass wealth for themselves.
Today the white settlers are using these black elites and agents to manage other blacks so that the white capital can flourish undisturbed, any illusion of tilting balance of Economic power is a pipe dream without forcing Economic Justice.
‘Disclaimer - The views expressed here are not necessarily those of the BEE CHAMBER’.