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CNN
12-07-2025
- Politics
- CNN
Smerconish: Should Racial and Ethnic Identity Categories Be Eliminated? - Smerconish on CNN - Podcast on CNN Podcasts
Smerconish: Should Racial and Ethnic Identity Categories Be Eliminated? Smerconish on CNN 44 mins CNN Michael Smerconish examines the latest revelation from Zohran Mamdani's Columbia University admissions application and argues that it's time to end classification by race and ethnicity. Then, Atlantic staff writer Thomas Chatterton Williams joins Michael Smerconish to discuss his latest piece called "Zohran Mamdani reveals the absurdity of affirmative action." And, Washington Examiner National Political reporter Salena Zito unpacks the one-year anniversary of the first assassination attempt against President Trump in her new book called "Butler: The Untold Story of the near assassination of Donald Trump and the fight for America's heartland." Also, Carter Sherman, a reproductive health and justice reporter for The Guardian, joins Michael Smerconish to discuss her new book "The Second Coming: Sex and the next generation's fight over its future."
IOL News
04-07-2025
- Business
- IOL News
How ANC's collusion with big businesses undermines transformation
Nco Dube a political economist, businessman, and social commentator. Image: Supplied South Africa's post-apartheid journey has been marked by a bold constitutional promise: to dismantle the economic structures of racial privilege and build a society where the black majority can share in the country's wealth and opportunities. Central to this promise are the empowerment laws, Black Economic Empowerment (BEE) and Affirmative Action (AA), crafted to drive economic inclusion and redress decades of exclusion. Yet, nearly three decades on, the slow pace of transformation and the growing backlash against these laws reveal a darker reality: a coordinated agenda, both local and global, to halt transformation, preserve white privilege, and enrich a narrow elite. At the heart of this crisis lies a deeply troubling collusion between big business and ANC elites. A symbiotic relationship that has subverted the original intent of empowerment laws, turning them into tools for elite enrichment rather than broad-based economic justice. The Promise and the Betrayal of Empowerment When the ANC was unbanned in 1990 and South Africa embarked on its democratic journey, the vision was clear: to dismantle apartheid's economic legacy and create a more equitable society. BEE and AA laws were designed to open doors for black South Africans through ownership, management, employment equity, and skills development. There have been pockets of progress. Black ownership and representation in certain sectors have increased, and a black middle class has emerged. Some black entrepreneurs have thrived, and certain companies have made genuine strides in employment equity. But for the ordinary black South African, the man on the street, these gains have often been invisible or out of reach. Poverty, unemployment, and inequality remain entrenched, and the benefits of transformation have been captured by a small, politically connected elite. This failure is no accident. It is the product of systemic corruption, incompetence, and a political will that has been fatally compromised by the very leaders entrusted with delivering transformation. Video Player is loading. Play Video Play Unmute Current Time 0:00 / Duration -:- Loaded : 0% Stream Type LIVE Seek to live, currently behind live LIVE Remaining Time - 0:00 This is a modal window. Beginning of dialog window. Escape will cancel and close the window. Text Color White Black Red Green Blue Yellow Magenta Cyan Transparency Opaque Semi-Transparent Background Color Black White Red Green Blue Yellow Magenta Cyan Transparency Opaque Semi-Transparent Transparent Window Color Black White Red Green Blue Yellow Magenta Cyan Transparency Transparent Semi-Transparent Opaque Font Size 50% 75% 100% 125% 150% 175% 200% 300% 400% Text Edge Style None Raised Depressed Uniform Dropshadow Font Family Proportional Sans-Serif Monospace Sans-Serif Proportional Serif Monospace Serif Casual Script Small Caps Reset restore all settings to the default values Done Close Modal Dialog End of dialog window. Advertisement Next Stay Close ✕ Ad loading The Symbiotic Relationship Between Big Business and ANC Elites Since the unbanning of the ANC, a problematic alliance has formed between big business and ANC political elites. White monopoly capital, anxious to protect its interests in the new dispensation, extended lucrative BEE deals to ANC insiders. This was not broad-based empowerment, it was a transactional pact: business secured access to government contracts, regulatory favour, and influence, while ANC elites gained wealth and power. This arrangement has had devastating consequences for genuine transformation: Elite Enrichment Through Selective BEE Deals: Instead of empowering the masses, many BEE deals were structured to benefit a narrow group of ANC-connected individuals. Shares, directorships, and business opportunities were handed to political insiders, creating a black elite that often mirrored the exclusivity of the apartheid-era white elite. The majority of black South Africans saw little direct benefit from these deals. Empirical evidence shows that many beneficiaries of these deals were ANC apparatchiks, with the majority of black South Africans seeing little direct benefit. Board Appointments and Political Influence: At least 56 ANC politicians have held directorships in major JSE-listed companies, blurring the lines between political power and corporate governance. This overlap ensured that business interests were protected and that policies favoured entrenched elites rather than broad economic inclusion. Research shows a significant overlap between ANC politicians and the boards of major JSE-listed companies. Many of them holding multiple directorships across a wide array of companies. This integration allowed big business to secure their interests by aligning with politically influential individuals, ensuring favourable treatment and policy influence, rather than driving genuine transformation. Fronting and Window-Dressing: Many companies engaged in fronting, appointing black individuals to nominal positions to meet BEE requirements without transferring real control or economic benefit. This practice allowed companies to access government contracts and benefits fraudulently, undermining the integrity of empowerment laws. While real control and benefits remain with the original (often white) owners. Examples include listing low-level black employees as company directors without their knowledge or creating side agreements that strip black shareholders of real power. State Capture and Policy Manipulation: The alliance between business and ANC elites facilitated state capture, where government resources and policy were manipulated to serve private interests. The mutually beneficial relationship between business and ANC elites has led to 'state capture,' where business interests influence legislation and procurement processes for their own benefit, often at the expense of the broader public. This has included shaping policies to favour certain companies, securing lucrative government contracts, and manipulating regulatory frameworks to protect established interests. The Bosasa scandal, for example, involved manufacturing BEE credentials and funnelling money to the ANC through corrupt tender processes, with cash bribes and fraudulent invoicing used to secure government business and support election campaigns. This collusion has transformed empowerment laws from instruments of justice into mechanisms for elite enrichment and preservation of privilege. The focus on enriching a politically connected elite, rather than fostering broad-based participation and economic inclusion, has led to widespread public disillusionment and persistent inequality. The original vision of BEE as a tool for mass empowerment has been subverted by collusion between big business and ANC elites, resulting in a narrow base of beneficiaries and limited progress for the majority. The Global Rightward Shift and the Anti-Transformation Agenda Adding fuel to the fire is the global political climate. The rise of right-wing populism in the United States and elsewhere has emboldened anti-transformation forces in South Africa. Figures like Donald Trump and Elon Musk have amplified narratives of white victimhood, including the false and dangerous 'white genocide' myth targeting South Africa. White interest groups such as the Democratic Alliance (DA), Solidarity, and Afriforum have seized this moment to push back against transformation. They cloak their agendas in rhetoric about 'meritocracy' and 'non-racialism,' but their true aim is to preserve apartheid-era privileges and slow the pace of change. Meanwhile, as the ANC faces potential electoral decline, white monopoly capital is already seeking new political partners to maintain its influence, regardless of who governs. The anti-transformation agenda is thus both a local and international phenomenon, threatening to roll back the hard-won gains of the past three decades. Successes, Failures, and the Road Ahead It is important to acknowledge the successes. There are black entrepreneurs, professionals, and leaders who have leveraged empowerment laws to build businesses and create jobs. Some sectors have made genuine progress in diversifying ownership and management. But these successes are exceptions, not the rule. The systemic failures of corruption, elite capture, fronting, and state capture have undermined the transformative potential of empowerment laws. The struggle over South Africa's empowerment laws is a struggle for the soul of the nation. Will the country continue down a path where transformation is hollowed out by corruption and elite collusion, or will it reclaim the constitutional imperative to build an inclusive economy for all its people? The stakes could not be higher.
IOL News
28-05-2025
- Politics
- IOL News
Corné Mulder criticises BEE laws amid Trump-Ramaphosa meeting controversy
FF Plus leader Corné Mulder is suggesting that BEE laws be scrapped. Image: Jacoline Prinsloo / File Freedom Front Plus (FF Plus) leader Corné Mulder has come under scrutiny for his recent attacks on Black Economic Empowerment (BEE) laws in Parliament. Some speculate his actions are motivated by bitterness over not being invited to the White House meeting. However, Mulder dismissed these claims, stating he would have declined the invitation even if offered. Mulder's suggestions to scrap BEE and Affirmative Action laws in Parliament on Tuesday have left President Cyril Ramaphosa offended. Video Player is loading. Play Video Play Unmute Current Time 0:00 / Duration -:- Loaded : 0% Stream Type LIVE Seek to live, currently behind live LIVE Remaining Time - 0:00 This is a modal window. Beginning of dialog window. Escape will cancel and close the window. Text Color White Black Red Green Blue Yellow Magenta Cyan Transparency Opaque Semi-Transparent Background Color Black White Red Green Blue Yellow Magenta Cyan Transparency Opaque Semi-Transparent Transparent Window Color Black White Red Green Blue Yellow Magenta Cyan Transparency Transparent Semi-Transparent Opaque Font Size 50% 75% 100% 125% 150% 175% 200% 300% 400% Text Edge Style None Raised Depressed Uniform Dropshadow Font Family Proportional Sans-Serif Monospace Sans-Serif Proportional Serif Monospace Serif Casual Script Small Caps Reset restore all settings to the default values Done Close Modal Dialog End of dialog window. Advertisement Next Stay Close ✕ Mulder's criticism of BEE laws is not new. As the leader of the FF Plus, a partner in South Africa's 10-party broad coalition government, he has long been a vocal opponent of policies aimed at promoting economic transformation and redress. In a recent parliamentary session, Mulder asked Ramaphosa whether he was prepared to develop an economic policy that would scrap BEE laws, employment equity, affirmative action, and the Expropriation Act. Ramaphosa's response to Mulder's question was scathing. He expressed surprise that anyone would think BEE laws were holding back the economy, pointing out that the country's economic growth had been hindered by racist policies of the past. "Why can't black people be made to own the productive aspects of work? Why can't they be rich as well?" Ramaphosa asked, emphasising the need for broad-based economic participation. Ramaphosa also highlighted the progress made since democracy, noting that black people are now featured in advertisements for everyday products, reflecting their growing importance as consumers and active economic players. "With democracy, what has now been happening and what we seek to see happening is the opening up of the economy; the broadening up of economic participation," Ramaphosa said. Sources suggest Mulder was bitter after being snubbed from the meeting between Ramaphosa and US President Donald Trump in Washington last week, where the bone of contention was a purported 'white genocide' that allegedly took place in South Africa. Mulder was not invited and instead, Ramaphosa took with him Agriculture Minister John Steenhuisen, billionaire businessman Johann Rupert, and golfers Ernie Els and Ratief Goosen, believed to be the representatives of Afrikaners in the meeting. Mulder has been vocal about his disapproval of the Trump-Ramaphosa meeting, describing it as a "catastrophe" inflicted on South Africans. He believes the SA delegation had no answers to Trump's "right questions" due to wilful ignorance or outright denial. "The international narrative now is that the president was ambushed. You cannot be ambushed if you have the facts on your side." Mulder said if he had attended the meeting, he would have said the opposite of what the SA delegation conveyed. "The truth of the matter is that I was not invited to that meeting… I would have declined if I had been invited. But if I had gone, I would have said the exact opposite to make sure that Trump understands the real problems that South Africa has," Mulder said.
Eyewitness News
26-05-2025
- Business
- Eyewitness News
Malatsi to appear before Parliament committee over new draft ICT policy
JOHANNESBURG - Communications Minister, Solly Malatsi could be in for a grilling in Parliament after the communications portfolio committee summoned him over a directive that could see billionaire Elon Musk's Starlink land in South Africa. This, after Malatsi's department published a policy directive for public comment last week, sparking speculation that government had been swayed to bend the rules for Musk. If passed, the policy will loosen Affirmative Action laws requiring foreign investors in telecoms to sell 30% of equity in their local entity to historically disadvantaged groups in order to qualify for operating licences. The Department of Communications and Digital Technologies said the proposed policy is not meant to subvert the country's transformation agenda. Instead, it would include a clause for companies to take part in equity equivalence programmes. This would see foreign firms invest in programmes geared towards equity, skills development and economic inclusion. In a statement published on X, communications portfolio committee chairperson Khusela Diko, said Malatsi must come before parliament to account for what she said appears to be a contravention of the Electronic Communications Act. Diko further described it as attempts to circumvent the law through policy directives not worth the paper they are written on and a glaring invitation for litigation. In a reply on X, Malatsi said he would honour the invitation for Tuesday's meeting. ALSO READ:
IOL News
08-05-2025
- Politics
- IOL News
ActionSA proposes reforms to BBBEE and transformation legislation in Parliament
ActionSA leader Herman Mashaba calls for an overhaul of failed transformation policies, saying BBBEE has enriched elites while leaving millions of South Africans behind. Image: Itumeleng English/Independent Newspapers ActionSA has announced the tabling of a Draft Resolution in Parliament to establish an Ad-Hoc Committee tasked with investigating South Africa's post-1994 transformation legislation. The move, in terms of Rule 119 of the National Assembly, is aimed at initiating a national dialogue on genuine economic justice, beyond the current Broad-Based Black Economic Empowerment (BBBEE) framework, which the party says has failed to achieve its constitutional purpose. Speaking at the Apartheid Museum, ActionSA leader Herman Mashaba addressed political, business, civil society leaders and young school leavers, stating: 'The discussion around the constitutional objective of transformation in our country has stalled.' He described the location as a symbolic reminder of the nation's past and the unfinished work of creating a more inclusive future. Mashaba said transformation must break away from failed ANC policies, singling out BBBEE as a programme that has enriched a connected elite rather than correcting systemic inequality. 'What we need now is a model that creates equality of opportunity for all. A model that breaks down the real barriers that keep millions excluded from the promise of freedom.' He cited apartheid-era laws to illustrate the deep structural damage inherited by the democratic state, lamenting that successive ANC governments turned transformative intent into tools of patronage. 'Under the ANC, we saw the enactment of laws such as Affirmative Action and BBBEE. While the introduction of these laws was noble, their implementation has proven to be poor, weakened by all manner of incompetence and selective application.' In the resolution to be tabled, ActionSA proposes that Parliament investigate the actual outcomes of existing transformation laws and consult broadly with South Africans, experts, and political parties to identify reforms that achieve the Constitution's vision of economic justice. Mashaba called for the creation of an 'Inclusive Economic Empowerment Act' centered on a new 'Opportunity Fund' to replace BBBEE. This fund, to be financed through a 5% levy on company profits (excluding SMMEs), will invest in education, infrastructure, and entrepreneurship in disadvantaged communities. 'Instead of reinforcing inequality under the guise of empowerment, we will focus on real investment in real people.' He also advocated for a time-bound Universal Basic Income Stimulus (UBIS), accelerated land and housing reform, gender justice initiatives, and policies to promote national cohesion. On immigration, Mashaba reiterated ActionSA's stance that the country cannot sustain transformation efforts with porous borders and undocumented migration straining basic services.
