RYAN RAVENS: BEE needs much more than scorecards

Despite SA’s substantial broad-based BEE policies, a recent World Bank study of no fewer than 164 countries ranks SA as the most unequal country in the world. Almost 30 years after the end of apartheid our country continues to be plagued by a widening level of inequality and poverty that threatens to rip our society apart.

Add a global pandemic, increasing geopolitical crises and their ever-widening international economic impact, and the brutal reality is that socioeconomic conditions for many South Africans will continue to deteriorate.

Solving this crisis will require much more than race-based policies. As far back as 2003 our government introduced BBBEE policies. Touted as means to address the inequalities suffered under apartheid and create an inclusive economy, they have fallen far short of the desired outcome to transform our society.

Despite the opportunistic political rhetoric from opposition parties and the obvious shortcomings of implementation — from tender corruption to corporate scorecards leveraged as a competitive advantage — the fact remains that these policies have simply not gone far enough to redress the gross inequality we continue to suffer as a legacy of apartheid.

To create a culture of equal opportunity that is sustainable and more easily able to withstand ongoing external threats, we need to lift our gaze from a single approach. We need to authentically embrace — and begin to shift — the undeniably entwined and multiple injustices preventing a level playing field.

Gender gaps and gender-based violence

Despite a majority female population (51.1% as at mid-2020, according to Stats SA) substantial gender gaps remain across the SA workplace, compounded by salary inequalities. We need to look beyond race and confront what clearly remains a toxic patriarchal society.

Evidence of this ranges from can be found from the excruciatingly embarrassing interview of a female candidate for SA’s chief justice to reports of sexual predation within local government.

We need to honestly examine our own prejudices, be they overt or more subtle. Young women are as much our future as their male counterparts. Yet there can be no equal society when most of SA’s citizens suffer subjugation, live in fear or are unable to earn a living wage.

An efficient public transport system

The lack of investment in the maintenance of our country’s railway infrastructure, exacerbated by unprecedented levels of theft, has left SA’s railway transport system in tatters. Apartheid spatial planning continues to plague many parts of the country, particularly in the Western Cape, where attempts to create integrated housing in the most affluent parts of the city have been met with fierce resistance.

Public transport remains a critical means of connecting black commuters to economic opportunities in the city. Despite being the most affordable means of commuter transport, the Western Cape’s weekday train services have decreased from 444 a day to just 151 a day since 2019. With more than 500,000 commuters using rail transportation daily, an efficient, reliable and safe railway system is crucial to employment opportunities and a sustainable life.

Of further concern are the astronomical increases in fuel prices and their impact on commuter taxi fares, which serve as a further impediment to accessing economic opportunities. When we deny our citizens the right to cost-effective and reliable public transportation, the spiral of inequality continues.

With 18.9% of our population (about 11-million citizens) living on less than R28 a day, we will never break this vicious cycle without affordable public transport connecting underserviced communities to the greater economy.

Education

SA has one of the most unequal school systems in the world; an estimated 85% of pupils attend poorly funded, dysfunctional schools. They are consequently ill prepared for tertiary education. Of the average 1-million pupils who write matric examinations each year, only 150,000 receive marks qualifying them for university attendance (although current university capacity can accommodate only 70,000).

High tertiary fees render this opportunity beyond the reach of many. For those fortunate enough to receive financial aid, the challenges continue. University fees and accommodation may be covered, but how does one begin to hold one’s own when the aid provided does not stretch to cover essential items such as basic nutrition or the purchase of prescribed textbooks? University dropout rates in the first year are as high as 50%-60%, with financial and academic shortcomings listed as two of the top reasons.

Education is the cornerstone of empowerment, without which an empowered life, let alone a prosperous one, is severely hampered. Without access to quality education, and the ability for our students to successfully complete it, we will not break the ongoing and ever-increasing cycle of inequality.

Inclusive justice

Given the complex array of interwoven injustices across our society we need much more than simple, race-based measures to overcome our levels of inequality. To create a healthy society with equal opportunity for all and in which business can thrive, thereby enabling prosperous and sustainable lives, we need commitment to far greater measures that take into account the magnitude of the injustice.

It is too easy to simply game our BEE scorecards to create a veneer of transformation while levels of inequality threaten to rip our society apart. From ensuring our employees (home or office) receive a living wage as opposed to a minimum wage, to actively challenging gender bias and providing safe transportation for our workers, there’s much business can do to contribute towards a more equitable and sustainable society.

The question is not what should happen at a policy level, but rather what more business can do right now to create a sustainable nation in which all are equal. Without inclusive social justice it will become almost impossible to operate a sustainable business over the long-term.

• Ravens is CEO of Accelerate Cape Town.