DA to thrash out position on empowerment at tense federal council meeting
The meeting, which is expected to be heated, will discuss the party's controversial draft manifesto and the battle over its broad-based BEE stance
Sparks are expected to fly at the DA’s federal council this weekend when the party’s stance on broad-based BEE comes up for discussion in its draft manifesto. The battle over BBBEE is mainly between two factions within the party, with the so-called liberal grouping arguing that race should not be a factor in redress, as disadvantage can be measured, while the opposing faction — and the party’s federal executive — emphasises that race is a proxy for disadvantage. The federal council would have to discuss and initiate steps to adopt its manifesto a mere two weeks ahead of its launch later in February. Its former policy chief, Gwen Ngwenya, recently resigned, saying in her resignation letter that the DA does not take policy seriously. Business Day has also reported that her resignation followed differences with the leadership over BBBEE. In the 87-page draft manifesto, which was sent out to members of the federal council on Monday and which Business Day has seen, the party deals with i...
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