The Democratic Alliance has unveiled a new Bill that seeks to scrap Black Economic Empowerment (BEE) and replace it with what the party calls a fairer, needs-based system.

DA Head of Policy, Mat Cuthbert, says the proposed Economic Inclusion for All Bill, which will be tabled in Parliament, aims to “target poverty instead of race as the measure of disadvantage,” arguing that the ANC’s BEE policy has failed to improve the lives of ordinary South Africans.

“Forty-four million South Africans remain trapped in poverty while politically connected elites have enriched themselves,” Cuthbert says. He adds that BEE has “become a feeding trough for cadres” and a key driver of corruption.

The Bill proposes amending the Public Procurement Amendment Act to introduce a new empowerment framework that rewards job creation, poverty reduction, and environmental sustainability rather than ownership demographics.

Cuthbert says the DA’s model “aligns with section 217 of the Constitution and the UN Sustainable Development Goals” and includes measures to disqualify companies involved in corruption.

He has called on the ANC to “do the right thing and put people before cadres,” saying the party’s continued defence of BEE serves its own political interests rather than those of the poor.

For more information and to read the DA’s new Bill, click HERE.