Soundbite by Mat Cuthbert MP.
The Democratic Alliance (DA) has written to all parties in Parliament to back the Economic Inclusion for All Bill, to end an empowerment model that has served only a connected elite and graduate towards a system of genuine empowerment.
For nearly three decades, Broad-Based Black Economic Empowerment (B-BBEE) has failed to deliver for the vast majority.
While 44 million South Africans remain in poverty, and 12 million are unemployed, an estimated 100 individuals continue to benefit from a system that diverts most of the R1.2 trillion public procurement budget to fewer than 1 200 companies.
This is not redress, it is exclusion by another name.
The Economic Inclusion for All Bill replaces this patronage with a simple, just principle: empowerment based on real disadvantage, not political proximity.
It broadens access to opportunity, supports those who need it most, and unlocks the economy for millions.
This is not a matter of party politics, but a question of finding the most effective way of graduating from a system that has failed to transform the economy for the majority.
We urge all parties to stand with us on the right side of history.
Support a Bill that empowers citizens, not cadres.