The Presidency has pushed back against claims that BEE has primarily served as a vehicle for ANC-aligned enrichment.
Deputy minister in the presidency for planning, monitoring and evaluation Seiso Mohai said most of the beneficiaries of transformation were not politically connected.
He was speaking at a symposium on B-BEEE organised by the Presidency and the B-BEEE Commission.
B-BBEE faces sustained criticism from political parties and some in the business community who argue that the policy has entrenched a narrow elite with ties to the ANC, rather than delivering broad economic inclusion.
Mohai did not dismiss all such concerns outright, conceding there have been instances where benefits were concentrated and where transactional empowerment failed the broad-based objective.
“Many of the most prominent black South Africans who rose in business, industry, finance, media, technology and professional services through empowerment opportunities have had no relationship whatsoever with the ANC as a governing party,” Mohai told an audience on Tuesday that included business leaders, academics, organised labour and civil society representatives.
“Many beneficiaries emerged through entrepreneurship, professional excellence, market competitiveness, strategic partnerships and access previously denied to black people under apartheid.”
Data from the B-BBEE Commission show that there is a slowdown in the number of major B-BBEE transactions reported, with 22 reported in the first three quarters of 2025/26 compared with 55 in the same period the previous year.
In the first three quarters, the commission assessed 106 reports from JSE-listed companies, 76 from organs of state and five from sector education and training authorities. The assessment showed that R5.8bn had been spent on enterprise development, R4.8bn on supplier development and R19.8bn on skills development. The total value of registered B-BBEE transactions during this period was R19.6bn.
President Cyril Ramaphosa has previously said that the government would conduct a review of the current BEE framework, but the policy would not be abandoned by the government.
“Where there is fronting, we must prosecute fronting. Where there is rent-seeking, we must stop rent-seeking … Implementation failure can never become an excuse for the miscarriage, or abandoning, of justice,” Mohai said.
Mohai called for sector-specific transformation targets with enforceable consequences, an independent review of development finance institutions and a shift from compliance scorecards to measurable outcomes.
“As a government, we are aware that B-BBEE is not a panacea to all of our problems; for it to be effective, it must be integrated with industrial access,” he said.
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