It’s amazing how things shift over time. The mining sector was surprisingly quick out of the blocks with criticism of the new Mineral Resources Development Bill. Perhaps due to the endless consultation process of the past decade and abortive moves on this front, there has been a faster default to criticism and exposing the contradictions of the new bill. I remember back in the day when the initial reaction to new regulatory requirements was “Ah, but Gwede is a miner, so it will all be fine”. A decade later, the sector has seen annual exploration spending decline by about 60%.

Another area that has seen a shift in attitudes has been the previously untouchable (at least in polite company) topic of transformation and broad-based BEE. It has been fascinating to watch over the past 20 years of engaging in such policy issues (more in private with clients than in public) how it has gone from unmentionable to being openly discussed in business circles and in the mainstream media.

Some have attributed this to US President Donald Trump’s recent criticism, but this seems inaccurate to me — there has been a growing, if quiet, discussion on the topic even inside the ANC since the 2022 ANC elective conference, and particularly through the past year since the elections.

The hysteria has been a sight to behold, including accusations of racism, insensitivity and elitism. This even from people who like to trumpet the benefits of evidence-based policymaking.

What are the alternatives to BEE? If the goal is more transformation, measured in terms of broad economic participation including asset ownership (of which corporate ownership is only one subset), labour market participation and financial inclusion, we must be agnostic to the solutions that will best get us there.

This is not how this issue is being discussed. BEE is considered sacrosanct, as we saw when the president expressed his views in parliament last week. For someone who is a product of this system, the idea that BEE isn’t working for the majority was seemingly outside the realm of computability. It is a visible spectacle of vested interest layered upon vested interest in the ANC.

The particular question and answer focused in on major corporate ownership. Yet by its very design BEE can never deliver its goal of substantial black corporate ownership in an economy that grows at just 1% a year. I would hazard a guess that most people in most countries do not care about this type of ownership. What is really important is a large chunk of adults owning their own small businesses and employing other people. This is empowering ownership in terms of direct control, making money and having an asset you’ve built and can sell and extract value from.

Similarly, the notion of ownership in liquid stock markets by a majority of the population, through self-managed or third-party managed pension or investment funds, the extraction of dividends and value and having a say in how they are run — is how most people around the world think about broad based ownership. This type of ownership is facilitated by maximising savings, which are in turn dependent on maximising employment and wage income, together with carefully designed savings — especially retirement systems.

These forms of democratised ownership are ignored by status quo policy thinking, and are hobbled by the “usual” underlying problems in the economy. There are also contradictions in policy elsewhere that reinforce capital- rather than labour-intensive growth (such as industrial policy) and create insider/outsider problems and high barriers to entry that keep small, medium and microenterprises out.

These sorts of ownership naturally result in greater levels of financial inclusion, but so does an increased and renewed focus on broader asset ownership, including home ownership. Initial progress in this area after 1994 has stalled, but new reforms under Operation Vulindlela have the potential to be truly empowering.

This is not to say that foreign investors should not be required to anchor their businesses onshore in communities, and take a broad stake in driving the future success of the country. For all the harrumphing about the (long time coming) death of “environmental, social and governance”, companies still want to do the right thing.

As the Overton window expands we need to see evidence-based policy- and decision-making. The topic is in some sense so dull and over-rehearsed because there has actually been remarkably little research of any qualitative, let alone quantitative nature into the issues. Research has focused on fine-tuning within the score-card-centric view, and managing the incentives and impulses of different stakeholders within this playing field.

The simple answer should be that we don’t actually know the full extent of the costs of the existing system. Research should be undertaken and an open mind kept so SA can move on from there, agnostic to the best ways that emerge to maximise empowerment.

Trade, industry & competition minister Parks Tau has on several occasions called for a review of BEE policy — including in parliament — though has now gone strangely quiet. It time for a calm, rational and evidence-based review that can get us out of the mud and focused on the goal of how best to maximise economic inclusion and genuine black empowerment.

• Peter Attard Montalto leads on political economy, markets and the just energy transition at Krutham, a SA research-led consulting company.

This article first appeared in Business Day.