Civil rights organisation Free SA is calling for a legislative sunset clause on Broad-Based Black Economic Empowerment (B-BBEE), arguing that South Africa’s current empowerment framework is outdated, constitutionally tenuous, and economically harmful.
Free SA has launched a national campaign urging Parliament to review and time-limit all BEE-related legislation, ensuring any affirmative action measures are evidence-based, outcome-driven, and subject to transparent renewal or repeal. The campaign stresses that empowerment policies must evolve to meet current challenges (chief among them poverty, unemployment, and inequality) without relying on permanent racial classification.
“Our Constitution allows for remedial action, not racial entrenchment,” said Reuben Coetzer, spokesperson for Free SA. “Any fair policy must be time-bound, proportionate, and revisable. South Africans deserve transformation that empowers the many, not enriches the few.”
Free SA warns that the current BEE regime has drifted far from its original purpose, becoming a tool for elite capture and bureaucratic scorekeeping rather than broad-based empowerment.
- Elite Enrichment: Instead of uplifting the poor, BEE has disproportionately benefited politically connected individuals.
- Economic Harm: By prioritising race over merit, BEE has undermined competitiveness, discouraged investment, and contributed to South Africa’s record-high unemployment.
- Legal Risk: Without a clear expiry or periodic review, BEE may breach Section 9(2) of the Constitution, which permits remedial measures – but not indefinitely.
Free SA is advocating for a shift from race-based to need-based empowerment that targets poverty, unemployment, and exclusion – regardless of race. The organisation has called for:
- A legislated sunset clause for all BEE-related laws, mandating expiry unless renewed after public and parliamentary review.
- Independent five-year reviews of BEE’s effectiveness, with the first to be completed before the 2029 national election.
- Stricter enforcement of Sections 195 and 217 of the Constitution to ensure public procurement is fair, cost-effective, and transparent.
“BBBEE was never meant to be permanent,” Coetzer added. “Let’s end the blank cheque approach and replace it with policies that are just, practical, and results-driven.”
Free SA has opened a national public participation drive in which all South Africans can submit their views on the future of BEE. These submissions will be included in Free SA’s formal petition to the President, the Minister of Trade, Industry and Competition, and the Minister of Justice and Constitutional Development on 30 November 2025.
Submissions can be made here.
“Our goal is a South Africa that gives people a chance because they are good enough, not because they tick a box. It’s time for fairness to replace favouritism,” Coetzer concluded.
