TRANSFORMATION can succeed when all the economic clusters come together, stand up for it, and actively put it into action. This was the message by Dr Nthabiseng Moleko (pictured), the National Empowerment Fund (NEF) chairperson and chair of the B-BBEE Advisory Council, during the Frank Dialogue on the Future of B-BBEE in South Africa held in Umhlanga on 28 February 2026.
The all-day dialogue was attended by leaders from business, government, civil society, and the ocean economy. They shared ideas, discussed current developments and challenges shaping the empowerment landscape in South Africa, and proposed strategic and practical recommendations for the results and action-driven future of B-BBEE.
Dr Moleko emphasised the importance of collaboration and partnerships among all stakeholders. “They need to cooperate on holding the government accountable and playing their relevant roles in assessing potential improvements to current empowerment tools. This approach would ensure that redistribution and economic growth benefit everyone and reach previously excluded groups, including youth, women, and people with disabilities,” she said.
Dr Moleko said that empowerment institutions like the NEF play an important role in driving economic transformation and emphasised the need for support, especially from financial institutions, capitalisation, and funding, to help these empowerment institutions grow and make an even bigger difference.
“Increasing successful infrastructure investment not only supports B-BBE initiatives; it brings businesses into the fold, facilitating their contribution to the broader economic landscape. This encompasses South Africa’s priority projects and major employers such as water, logistics, road, and port initiatives. Working together brings us closer to a successful implementation of B-BBEE,” she said.
In his closing remarks, NEF chief executive officer Mziwabantu Dayimani stated that transformation requires all stakeholders to embrace, defend, and implement it with conviction for it to succeed.
“Development Finance Institutions (DFIs), commercial banks, and the private sector must collaborate more closely with the government to provide equitable access to funding and markets. The focus should be on creating sustainable and competitive enterprises that can become industrial leaders,” Dayimani said.
“Transformation is therefore not a one-time event but a continuous journey that demands persistence and partnerships. B-BBEE should not be viewed as taking from one group to give to another. Instead, it is about building national capacity and developing new industries and novel entrepreneurs to fuel sustainable economic growth.”
