Black Economic Empowerment

Black Economic Empowerment (BEE) is a policy of the South African government which aims to facilitate broader participation in the economy by black people. A form of affirmative action, it is intended especially to redress the inequalities created by apartheid. The policy provides incentives – especially preferential treatment in government procurement processes – to businesses which contribute to black economic empowerment according to several measurable criteria, including through partial or majority black ownership, hiring black employees, and contracting with black-owned suppliers. The preferential procurement aspect of BEE has been viewed as paradigmatic of a sustainable procurement approach, whereby government procurement is used to advance social policy objectives.^[1] So-called "BEE deals" – transactions aiming to increase black ownership of large businesses – have been conducted on a large scale, with BEE transactions concluded between 1994 and 2005 valued at between R150 billion^[2] and R285 billion.^[3]

The government has subscribed to an explicit policy of black economic empowerment since 1994, but BEE was relaunched as the more comprehensive, and less ownership-focused, Broad-Based Black Economic Empowerment (BBBEE) programme around the time of the passage of the BBBEE legislation in 2003.^[1][4] However, although earlier initiatives were governed by different legislation and sets of arrangements, the underlying principles and policy are very similar, and BBBEE is often still referred to as "BEE" in common parlance.

In June 2021, President Cyril Ramaphosa announced that South Africa's BEE strategy and legislation would be reviewed, especially to ensure that they are not exploited for corrupt purposes.^[5]