It looks like one of the battle lines that will be drawn between the African National Congress (ANC) and the Congress of the People (COPE) in the upcoming election will be their takes on Bleck Economic Empowerment (BEE) which is at the heart of South Africa’s private sector affirmative action mandates. COPE has argued that BEE needs to be reviewed, although what that means is vague. In a pretty clear case of populist political positioning, Jacob Zuma has responded by asserting that BEE does need to be reviewed — and expanded. Expect this to be a major theme in the campaign, and a significant wedge that the ANC will exploit at every opportunity, understanding as it does that in the minds of most South Africans programs like BEE represent affirmative action, which represents the transition from apartheid.
