Usiphile Mpetsheni’s article refers (“I was born into a New SA — but its economy still isn’t new”, January 28). BEE does not act in isolation. It is one of about 140 discriminatory pieces of legislation.
While it acts as economic retribution locally, the main problem is that it is seen by foreign investors as a 30% investment hurdle. BEE has been relatively successful at changing existing ownership patterns but by its nature it prevents an efficient allocation of capital (local and foreign), so we see very low foreign direct investment (FDI) and uninterrupted low economic growth for more than a decade. This has been communicated many times by investors attending the Mining Indaba over the years.
I wonder, when writing “I was born into a constitutional promise to free the potential of each person”, whether the author thinks the constitution’s promise should also apply to young white male job seekers? More than 30 years in the making, this is now no longer only an ethical dilemma but an economic one and is likely to lead to an existential threat if it remains unaddressed. JOIN THE DISCUSSION: Send us an email with your comments toletters@businessday.co.za.
Read Full Article on Business Day
[paywall]
Letters of more than 200 words may be edited for length. Anonymous correspondence will not be published. Writers should include a daytime telephone number.
[/paywall]
