Abstract
Since the introduction of black economic empowerment (BEE) in South Africa by the African National Congress (ANC) in 2003, the impact of the legislation and its accompanying policies on the six major “PESTIS” (political, economic, social, technological, institutional and structural-physical) macro-environments in which businesses in the private sector and government in the public sector operate, has largely gone unnoticed or has been ignored. In an exploratory study using the “5 Star” research methodology, and with the aid of specially developed qualitative research adjudication matrix (QRAM), the impact of the ANC’s BEE policies on these macro-environments was investigated. Unfortunately, it appears that these policies have negatively affected South Africa’s political, economic, social/cultural and institutional macro-environments. Allegations of state capture and nefarious influences on government and ministerial appointments, poor economic performance and possible further credit downgrade to “junk” status by the international ratings agencies, increased prevalence of racism, hate speech and discrimination, and violation of the Constitution of South Africa and international treaties by the ANC government, paint a dismal picture. In addition, the coun¬try is facing unseen high levels of corruption, graft, fraud, looting, bribery, nepotism and self-enrichment in government, state-owned enterprises (SOEs) and businesses. BEE can be regarded as the ANC’s “Achilles heel” in South Africa, and the political party should rather abandon this policy in order to stop the rot, and further deterioration, distrust and decay in the country’s most important macro-environments.
Highlights
Black economic empowerment (BEE) which was introduced by the ruling African National Congress (ANC) in 2003, has affected every sphere of government and the management of businesses in the last 14 years
The “5 Star” research methodology that had previously been used in a successful research project guided the research in the utilization of an exploratory qualitative research method, in which only secondary data were consulted
The ANC and the continuation of its black economic empowerment (BEE) policy seem to have negatively impacted on the political, economic, social and institutional macro-environments of South Africa. This does not apply to the technological environment, and on a limited scale, to the structural-physical environments
Summary
Black economic empowerment (BEE) which was introduced by the ruling African National Congress (ANC) in 2003, has affected every sphere of government and the management of businesses in the last 14 years. BEE is basically a race-based formula which prescribes preferential economic treatment for so-called “black people” (who include South African Indians, Coloreds, Chinese and others), but explicitly excludes white people. The impact of such BEE legislation should be evident or manifest itself in one or more of the country’s macro-environments if the policy is to be considered effective at all. The relevance of the research looking forward to the realization that enforced BEE compliance by government will continue to affect many of the macro-environments in South Africa – all negatively
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