28/05/2026
B.E.E With A Social Conscience
As seen on YBS Media
By Melusi Melu Xulu
On paper BEE advocates that it is for assisting the previously disadvantaged people at large, as the BEE legislation was formulated as an effort to redress the imbalances of the past. One of the objectives for BEE, among others, issocio-economic development. In this regard a company gets points by uplifting Blacks individuals, communities and/or groups. The question is: Who really benefits? Is it just a few black individuals or the community and groups?
There are a few well-known “businessmen” who are Black, known as ama-BEE . They usually wear trendy suits, usually carry two or more expensive phones. You will also spot them by their driving the latest sport cars. One other distinguishing factor is that they are well-connected, politically. These are the previously disadvantaged.
Ama-BEE are untouchable, larger-than-life business moguls whose living principles have nothing to do with addressing the under-developed communities. Moeletsi Mbeki, an analyst and entrepreneur, one of the most vocal BEE critics has this to say about the superficiality of BEE as a redress mechanism,
“It is a fatal blow against the emergence of Black entrepreneurship, by creating a small class of unproductive, but wealthy crony capitalists.”
BEE should be at the forefront of changing the legacy of apartheid and should not benefit a selected few.
Here are my 3 suggestions to changes BEE’s effectiveness:
1. Giving back
A company that gets a BEE deal, of say R10 million, should be obligated to use 10% of its profits to develop under-developed communities. The BEE company could help, for instance, to build a new school with modern facilities. Be it sport, technology or educational facilities.
The main aim will be that the progress of BEE companies will leave under-developed communities with better infrastructure. This will go a long way in creating developed communities across the country. This requirement could be placed as a prerequisite for the next deal.
2. Invest on Education
A national BEE Education Bursary Fund (BEE-EBF) can be set up with independent trustees to be used to raise funds to educate previously disadvantaged South Africans who excel academically. These learnes and/or students could then be sent to the best world universities globally like Harvard or Yale, with the premise of grooming them for skills that could improve government’s priority programmes.
The perfect example here will be Mine Engineers educated in Harvard USA who could come back to assist in the mining industry and beneficiation; BEE can play a huge role in this regard. The monies can be raised from the 10% mentioned above. This is not be a new concept, as ANC exiles were known to be encouraged to study. The aim was that they should be groomed to lead as soon political freedom was attained, its BEE’s turn.
3. Encourage Entrepreneurship
One of the proposals to make sure that BEE benefits the poorest of the poor is to have a BEE Social Entrepreneurship Programme (BEE-SEP). This programme will train people who are previously disadvantaged in entrepreneurship to enable them to be better entrepreneurs.
The programme could tackle issues such funding, creating sustainable businesses and job creation, which would help fight the ever-increasing unemployment rate. The BEE-SEP would go a long way to see that Blacks, in general and Africans in particular, are active in the first economy.
This is the kind of BEE I am expecting. I have coined it ‘BEE with a social conscience,’ an initiative that we would all be proud of. A legacy created by BEE not just for ama-BEE, but for society as a whole. BEE must be one of the New Growth Path proponents used to change South Africa for the better. Cut-off date for implementation is 1 March 2014, otherwise society would continue to think of BEE as measure to safeguard Apartheid economic interests!
