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Radical Economic Transformation as we enter the Second Phase of our Transition Mzwandile Masina, ANC Today, Johannesburg, 15 January 2014 Over the centuries, South Africa has been drawn into a number of pivotal moments, when it has stood at a crossroads - from where it has faced a choice between safe, and arguably stagnant options of 'more of the same' . or of different policies and attitudes capable of ushering in a radically different order. Most times, the events that occurred and the choices that were made proved catastrophic for us - and the vast majority of our people; but there was at least one occasion when a collective choice ushered in a promise of growth and prosperity - a new beginning. Some of these moments are well-documented: the arrival of the first white settlers in 1652 . the formation of the Union of South Africa in 1910 . the 1913 Native's Land Act . the coming into power of the apartheid National Party in 1948 . and the birth of a new, democratic order in 1994. Others, though less well-known, have been important, nevertheless.. One of these proved to be a key moment for South Africa, for business and workers, and for the political relationship between English and Afrikaans-speaking whites. It occurred in 1963, when the doyenne of the country's predominant English-speaking business world, Harry Oppenheimer, made an incredible gesture to the Afrikaner business bloc: he virtually gave an Anglo-American company, General Mining Corporation (later to become Gencor and, later still, part of the BHP Billiton group) to the Afrikaner conglomerate, Sanlam. There was, of course, method in Oppenheimer's apparent 'madness'. What he did created the opening for an alliance between English and Afrikaans business. But more than that - it offered English language business the opportunity to continue benefiting (especially in the labour field) in all the opportunities that apartheid offered to a white skin. Today we are still repairing the damage that this alliance caused. In 1994, the African National Congress (ANC), the first government of a newly democratic South Africa, began the difficult task of dismantling apartheid state machinery. One of the things our democratic government has always been acutely aware of, but which it has nevertheless been constantly reminded of, is that political freedom means little or nothing if it is not also accompanied by economic freedom. The Department of Trade and Industry (the dti) is committed to working energetically to help South Africans track the path of true economic freedom. We will do this by overseeing the implementation of Broad-Based Black Economic Empowerment (B-BBEE) amongst other key interventions..The reorientation of the BBBEE Framework is geared towards addressing empowerment in the productive sectors of the economy. Never shall we continue supporting consumption driven by settlers, and we are acutely aware it won't be easy. A former South African Sports Minister, the late Steve Tshwete, once said: 'You need a wheelbarrow for my portfolio - to pile in all the sports administrators, and push them to where they need to be. Perhaps we will need a wheelbarrow too. In his State of the Nation address in June 2014, President Jacob Zuma prioritised support to small businesses, as well as to township and informal sector businesses. 'We will sharpen the implementation of the amended B-BBEE Act and the Employment Equity Act - to transform the ownership, management and control of the economy,' the President said. The South African government is promising radical economic transformation - to get more black businesses involved in the transformation of our society, and to get more of our people (especially our youth) working. Let me be clear: there will be economic transformation - and B-BBEE will be the vehicle used to drive that transformation. Black people, moreover, will participate in the mainstream of our economy. I do not want to be disparaging, but our economy needs more than survivalist activities, such as the selling boiled eggs at taxi ranks, to grow - and to thrive. Over the next five years, a host of working opportunities will become available to South Africans. For example, a new generation of black entrepreneurs will be driving the re-industrialisation of our economy. And remember these terms: 'local procurement' and 'increased domestic production'. These activities will be at the heart of efforts to transform our economy, and will be buoyed by a Government undertaking to buy 75 per cent of goods and services from South African producers. We will continue to improve the way we implement our Industrial Policy Action Plan (IPAP) and our Mineral Beneficiation Action Plan. Furthermore, we will also develop effective ways to support black industrialists and youth entrepreneurs - by, especially, ensuring that they are set up in ways that will make them profitable. There needs to be policy coherence on all interventions relating to procurement, beneficiation, localisation and infrastructure. In line with the National Development Plan, the New Growth Path, IPAP, and the National Skills Development Strategy, the amended B-BBEE codes seek to create a pool of black industrialists in the areas of Enterprise and Supplier Development. Moreover, the revised skills development aspects of the codes have been drawn up to enable us to invest in quality educational programmes. Let's be clear about this: We believe we're good enough to compete in the global arena. The codes offer real empowerment opportunities for black people - by ensuring that black-owned businesses are properly recognised - and by that I mean in South Africa and the globe. The amendments to the codes will enable beneficiaries of B-BBEE better opportunities to participate in our economy - and promote inclusive economic growth and development across all economic sectors. The local procurement aspect of B-BBEE policy and other government procurement practices by, in particular, the State Owned Enterprises will offer black enterprises better access to markets - and strengthen their sustainability. Another important amendment requires the state to buy local, or to buy products with a minimum level of local content - for the needs of certain, clearly identified sectors. This amendment has been strengthened by the Government's Procurement Accord, which is a joint commitment by government, business, labour and civil society to increase local procurement in order to create jobs. However, there are still glaring gaps in particular lack of movement to reform the Preferential Procurement Policy Framework Act (PPPFA) as it does not in its current form assist our transformation ideals. We recognise that we need the private sector to work with us towards realising the goals of the National Development Plan. We will therefore support public-private partnerships frameworks, as outlined in the NEDLAC framework. Equally, our Development Financial Institutions will play an important role in providing access to funds for black industrialists to support our collective effort to transform our economy in order to deliver growth and jobs. We are mindful that key to a 'revolution' in Black industrialisation are skills such as technical know-how, technology, capital, and other means of production. But also important is the building up of strong economic relations with the African countries, and a continuation of our good relationship with traditional trade partners in the West and other emerging markets. What we intend doing will not happen overnight - but it is important that we start now. And this is what we are doing.. - Mzwandile Masina is the Convener of the ANCYL, Deputy Minister of Trade & Industry From: http://www.anc.org.za/docs/anctoday/2014/at17.htm#art2 -- -- You are subscribed. 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