Provincial Black Economic Empowerment (BEE) conference, Emnotweni Arena,
Nelspruit
24 May 2007
Programme Director
MEC for Economic Development and Planning, Honourable Craig Padayachee
Members of the Executive Council present
Members of parliament
The Director-General, Mr Khaya Ngema
The Executive mayors of Mbombela
Councillor Justice Nsibande
Umjindi, Councillor Richard Lukhele
Pixley Ka Seme, Councillor E M Madonsela
Head of Department of Economic Development Ms Smangele Sekgobela
CEOs of parastatals, Mpumalanga Tourism and Parks Agency (MTPA), Mpumalanga
Agricultural Development Corporation (MADC), Mpumalanga Economic Growth Agency
(MEGA) and Mpumalanga Regional Training Trust (MRTT)
Captains and leaders of industry
Organised business
Distinguished guests
Ladies and gentlemen
We are gathered here to reflect together on the path we have travelled not
only to grow our economy, but also to increase the proportion of those who were
previously marginalised from owning and operating our common economy.
In its preamble, the Broad-Based Black Economic Empowerment Act (Act No 53
of 2003) is very eloquent about the nature of the challenge facing our society
with regard to the equitable distribution of incomes and assets and patterns of
participation of the majority in the economy of our country. The democratic
government inherited a society in which race had been a primary determinant of
access to productive resources and skill.
We know from history that the marginalisation of black people in economic
terms did not just happen. It was consciously designed and implemented with
commitment and discipline throughout the colonial and apartheid period.
Thriving farmers, traders and professionals from black communities were
systematically dispossessed and denied the possibility to participate and grow
this economy. It is always important to remind ourselves that there is a
history of meaningful black economic participation even before colonialism.
Early in the life of our democracy, it became apparent that left to the
market alone, these years of socio-economic engineering would not be undone. In
the Freedom Charter we pronounced that the people shall share in the country's
wealth. To give effect to this pronouncement, the interventionist approach of a
developmental state that facilitated the empowerment of blacks became
inevitable. Since 1994, we have turned around the economic performance of our
country. To date the main anomaly of our economy remains the exclusion of the
majority of the population from the ownership of productive assets and
possession of advanced skills.
As a consequence, our economy has not really performed at its full
potential. This is so because such exclusion results in deficient demand for
goods and services resulting from the low levels of incomes earned and output
generated. Simply put, as a province and as a country, we would be in higher
levels of growth and employment if our economy was not constrained by skewed
participation rates, incomes, and ownership of assets. Broad-Based Black
Economic Empowerment is an important policy instrument to broaden the economic
base of the country, to stimulate economic growth, to create jobs while
eradicating poverty.
The Broad-Based Black Economic Empowerment Act rightly defines Broad-Based
Black Economic Empowerment as the economic empowerment of all black people
including women, workers, youth, people with disabilities and people living in
rural areas through diverse but integrated socio-economic strategies. Such
strategies include:
* increasing the number of black people that manage
* own and control enterprises and productive assets.
Issued by: Office of the Premier, Mpumalanga Provincial Government
24 May 2007
Source: Mpumalanga Provincial Government (http://www.mpumalanga.gov.za)
