Latest QLFS lays bare the failures of BEE
15 November 2023
The latest unemployment statistics presented in Stats SA’s Quarterly Labour Force Survey (QLFS) are another reminder that race-based policies, like BEE, have failed, and are continuing to do more harm than good for its intended beneficiaries. So says the Institute of Race Relations (IRR).
Such policies have only benefited a handful of politically connected businesspeople, while the vast majority of South Africans have been trapped within the resulting framework of little or no economic growth.
According to the most recent IMF forecast, South Africa’s GDP will grow by only 0.9% in 2023, very low compared to comparable economies and far below the level of economic growth necessary to make a sustainable and real dent in this country’s high levels of poverty and unemployment.
Even the recent Zondo Commission flagged race-based policies as a problem, with the commission’s report saying that “evidence shows that the ideals of [black] empowerment were grossly manipulated and abused to advance the interests of a few individuals”.