But, at last, the official truth is out: “Black economic empowerment (BEE) is not benefitting black people.”

The results of a survey carried out by the Department of Mineral Resources which was recently disclosed bears testimony to this calamity.

The Department of Mineral Resources’ investigation of the mining deals concluded that debt financing had resulted in a dramatic reduction of BEE ownership.

The investigation tracks these transactions between 2002 and 2009 and concludes that an estimated minus 2.5% of the net asset value of R2trn had been transferred to BEE hands.

What a tragedy!

So, says the survey, the exorbitant debt financing of black economic empowerment (BEE) transactions is decimating the fruits that should accrue to these beneficiaries or owners of black companies who do these deals.

You see, it’s not only mining deals that portray such a shoddy picture. As far as I am concerned, this cuts across all industries. If other regulatory organs of government were to be as diligent in conducting these investigations, the picture would be much more shocking. It just so happens that the Department of Mineral Resources is much more determined than the other organs of state, which are tardy to say the least,

Frankly, a lot of the objectives targeted for achievement by 2014 have fallen by the way side.

The government seems to think that the problems in BEE deals estimated to amount to R280bn investigated from 2002 to 2009 were largely due to complicated financial arrangements.

That is partly true. But there are a myriad of other problems associated with this concept or failure thereof, chief of which is resistance to transformation. Resistance then breeds other attitudinal issues on the part of those who are opposed to BEE.

Mainstream investment banks and corporate lawyers do the deals because there is money to be made. But otherwise they wouldn’t give a damn about BEE. In fact, they are part of the problem rather than a solution. First, they are mostly the ones who make money rather BEE companies. Secondly, they are the ones who devise complicated structures and contracts that fail black beneficiaries. Not only that, but they even decide who should and who shouldn’t be funded. They are bad!

The premise of my argument is that this is a tragedy. But why?

It has been16 years of democracy. This is a very, very long time. If you cannot change something in 16 years, you are either stupid or you are being sabotaged or undermined. In all the 16 years, I have been here and I have been observing. This government is anything but stupid.

There has been a lot of perseverance and patience. But perseverance and patience cannot be taken for granted. They have a shelf-life. At some point, they run out. They expire! See what I am saying. That’s a fact of life, man.

Never, ever take a creative, peaceful agenda for granted because that’s simply what it is – peaceful. BEE is a peaceful, creative attempt to level the economic playing fields. So, please respect it.

For whatever reason, humans have the propensity to court tragedies and disasters. Don’t do that with BEE. Please don’t ferment a Bob Mugabe on me. I love this damn country.

That’s the tragedy I am talking about. If you do not comprehend, read the article again. If you still do not comprehend it, then sit back and think. – I mean serious thinking, not superficial bull shit.

*Sipho Ngcobo is former deputy editor of Business Report and ex-managing editor of Enterprise Magazine. He was one of the original team members of Business Day when the paper was launched in May 1985. He was a correspondent at international news agency Dow Jones where he reported on markets and companies in the early 1990s. He has also written for such publications as the Sunday Times, the World Paper in Boston and was employed by the New York Times Group in the US between 1989 an 1991.

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Eric Miyeni

I HATE BEE. Now, before you jump to any of the obvious conclusions, let me point out that I do not hate Black Economic Empowerment because it benefits a few black people. In fact, for that, I love it.

Come on, every black person knows it does not matter whether a black person earns R500 a month or R500000, each one of them will use their pay cheque to support in excess of five people. Money in black hands generally goes a long way.

So, for making those few black people rich, I love BEE. But I hate it for two reasons.

The first of these reasons is that BEE makes too many white people rich. We all know the formula. In a BEE transaction the black partner generally gets a smaller stake that he owes the white company owner for. So, when BEE contracts pay, making those few blacks some money, they make even more white partners even richer. For that I hate BEE.

That said, my biggest hatred for BEE is that it stems from and promotes black self- hate. Think about it. At the core of this stupid system we, as a country, are saying black people are useless unless they have a white partner to do a job! How horrible is that? I think we should do away with BEE as it stands and start giving contracts to purely black companies and black experts. I hope our government is listening.

I will never forget calling in on the awesome Tim Modise show on SAfm years back. Current Deputy President Kgalema Motlanthe was being interviewed on the subject of BEE. I called in to ask how many of the ANC’s actual contracts went to completely black companies. He took a while to answer, saying he did not have the figures in front of him. But I pressed him for an answer. Eventually he just blurted out the words “Come on Eric, you know our people are not ready”.

I am sure Motlanthe does not believe this any longer. And I pray that this current dispensation will start showing a lot more faith in its people.

I know that our government’s “people” includes every race, sex and creed in this country. But let’s face it, the last group that needs an economic leg up right now is South Africa’s whites.

On the other hand we black people need it the most. And since the biggest spender in any country, including ours, in any given year, is the government, our government must use its annual contracts to lift black South Africans specifically from the poverty we face on a daily basis 16 years after we put it in government.

So please, stop forcing us to marry hostile white companies that need the least economic help when we come to present our skills in order to win these contracts.

BEE as it is being practised today is a shame and the worst form of self-hate. We must change it. NOW!

Insightful, a curiously interesting description.

There are two issues here.

One is the service backlog is being project as an ANC created mess – that’s a lot of nonsense. At worse the ANC bears responsibility for not remedying as speedily as could have been done. But it’s utter nonsense that this was created by the ANC.

The other is the consequences of the liberation struggle. It’s an interesting debate which I hope will be taken up soon.

I disagreed with much of the nonsense you wrote about guns. (And, unlike Dworky, I do not hold you political taxonomy in high regard.)

But your response to Maggs (on the responsibility the ANC must bear for pre-1994 “liberation now, education later” slogan), is insightful.

The tragedy is that an entire generation of children lost out on much of its schooling. For them, there never wias “education later.”

[That being said, would there have been "liberation" at all, had the ANC not mobilised school kids in its "Peoples War"? I am not sure.]

“And dark blue in colour?”

That’s the tradition.

And dark blue in colour?

“P.S. How would you like it if I assumed your car has after market wheels and furr on the dash just because your last name is Naidu?”

I would like it a lot and you would be correct, it’s a Naidu tradition.