BEE And Black ‘Veneers’

BEE commission is faced with the gigantic task of improving the livelihood of black people who were excluded from the economy of Namibia in the past.

However the danger is that BEE focus has shifted to share acquisition to the extent that both the operation and managerial side of the so-called BEE companies are still run by mlungus to promote disempowerment and excuses for job losses. A question that still hovers in our minds, particularly with the youth (unemployed) as to whether the ultimate aim of BEE will ever be achieved since shares are acquired by black consortiums at high price through loans from white-owned banks. It is a fact that other white-owned companies still insist in affirming their ilk by hijacking the system and appointing a few black ‘veneers’ without managerial authority in order to secure government tenders. The government policy of promoting black business through preferential procurement has been abused by some white-owned companies in cahoots with some black counterparts. The ‘rent-a black’ epidemic is rife and it enables heavyweight companies to secure tenders from government departments and parastatals because they offer to appoint a black in a senior position but with no power being delegated. It is an undisputed fact the blacks are still the poorest, without economic power. One feels compelled as a layman and an unemployed youth to pose the complex and urgent question: what does rationalization of companies and BEE mean to the lives of the unemployed masses in the street? Who benefits from BEE? CP MutiruaVia e-mail