MEDIA RELEASE

DATE: 1 AUGUST 2019

The Northern Cape MEC for Finance, Economic Development and Tourism, Mr Maruping Lekwene says economic transformation is non-negotiable as government is constructing building blocks towards building a developmental state which is equitable and decent for all. Lekwene was addressing stakeholders at the Broad-Based Black Economic Empowerment (B-BBEE) Commission provincial conference hosted in Galeshewe, Kimberley.

The provincial conferences are part of an education and awareness programme to educate, create awareness, and showcase services of the B-BBEE Commission and various related government entities that are tailor-made to assist businesses, especially Small, Medium and Micro Enterprises (SMMEs) and previously disadvantaged individuals, to participate meaningfully in the South African economy.

“In order to build this developmental state, there are a number of items which we must pay particular attention to. These include but not limited to increasing the number of black people who manage, own and control enterprises and productive assets. We also need to facilitate enterprises and productive asset ownership and management by communities, workers, and cooperatives,” said Lekwene.

According to Lekwene, B-BBEE needs to be implemented in an effective and sustainable manner in order to unleash and harness the full potential of black people. He said there was a need to foster the objective of a pro-employment development growth path and to promote the constitutional right to equality and effective broad-based black participation by all in the economy.

“We are also committed to transforming the structure of our economy through industrialisation, addressing the basic needs of our people, including women and the youth, strengthening and expanding the role of the state and the role of state-owned enterprises,” he said.  Lekwene emphasised a need to promote economic unity of the nation, protect the common market and promote equal opportunity and access to government services.

Speaking at the same event, the Executive Manager of Compliance for the B-BBEE Commission, Ms Busi Ngwenya, said there was a greater need to educate communities   on fronting and how they were fraudulently awarded shares they have no knowledge of.

Ngwenya warned companies that continuously undermining the work that government was doing to empower black people and companies to access economic opportunities that are availed to them by the state, saying the B-BBEE Act provides for penalties and remedies to curb fronting.

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