MININSTER of Sports, Arts and Culture Gayton McKenzie has slammed Broad-Based Black Economic Empowerment (BEE) policy.
The controversial Patriotic Alliance leader told Black Business Council Summit that if he was president of the country he would scrap BEE, as he called for more reforms to boost economic growth.
Instead of BEE he proposed replacing it with a single empowerment bank, funded by a mandatory contribution of 1 percent of turnover from all white-owned businesses and previously empowered individuals.
He said: “You can’t build wealth without collateral.”
He believes the new bank would provide loans where “your blackness will be your collateral. Your black skin”.
According to him, this model avoids the counterproductive practice of forced partnerships, such as the 26 percent equity expectations under current BEE frameworks.
He added: “Instead of telling white people, come make me a 26 percent partner, I will not do that. That’s not business. That’s counterproductive.”
McKenzie highlighted that the new bank would enforce accountability, mentorship, and evidence of impact before extending further loans.
On the current implementation of BEE, he pointed out that it only benefits a small elite rather than addressing broad economic disparities.
He said: “BEE has not failed. We have failed BEE, and I’m including myself in all the Black millionaires today.”
“It is the same people doing deal after deal, and that is the truth. We can’t run away from it.
“You do a deal, you’re no longer poor; you are now a dollar millionaire, yet you still insist on becoming a partner in a business that a white man has built. That’s a conversation we don’t want to hear.”
McKenzie drew a contrast with the Jewish community, suggesting that black millionaires should show similar communal responsibility, especially in addressing the country’s staggering black unemployment.
“We have so many black millionaires, but we have the highest unemployment rate. We just get more, we get more, but you’re not even giving back to where you stay.”
He also blames the national budget deficit and service delivery failures on unaccounted foreign nationals, adding: “The ANC is getting an F, but they don’t deserve an F. The ANC should be getting a D.
“But the reason why they don’t deserve, don’t know why they’re getting an F, because they budget for South Africans. Two million [foreigners] have jobs, waiters, whatever. So when we chase them away, immediately we have two million jobs for locals.”