South African President Cyril Ramaphosa has announced the formation of a council to advise on a broad-based economic empowerment program for black people.
As required by the Act, the President has appointed seven board members from the 17 names recommended by the National Assembly.
The members of the new NYDA board are:
1. Ms Asanda Luwaca
2. Mr Avela Mjajubana
3. Ms Karabo Mohale
4. Ms Lebo Mulaisi
5. Mr Thulisa Ndlela
6. Ms Pearl Pillay
7. Ms Alexandria Procter
He noted that, while the empowerment program has been significant for the past 20 years, there has been “inadequate progress” in some areas.
“We have gone backwards when it comes to increasing black management control, upscaling skills development, entrenching enterprise development and broadening procurement to give opportunities to black women and the youth,” he said in his weekly letter to South Africans,.
He noted that when apartheid ended in 1994, black ownership of companies listed on the Johannesburg Stock Exchange was “less than 1%.”
“This figure has not improved much in the past 28 years,” he said.
He stated that more work was needed to address the challenges that black-owned businesses face, such as obtaining capital to start and expand their businesses and finding markets for their products.
Ramaphosa also mentioned the difficulties that black women, in particular, face when dealing with large-scale transactions.
“The continued exclusion of the black majority from the economy’s mainstream constrains economic growth, which ultimately impacts all business,” he said.
