DA to reveal next step in push to replace BBBEE, but will it alienate black voters?

Journalist Carol Paton talks about the DA's proposed new Economic Inclusion for All Bill to replace BBBEE.

The Democratic Alliance (DA) will on Tuesday unveil what it calls its next step in the fight to replace BBBEE with economic inclusion for all.

It comes after the party recently launched its Economic Inclusion for All Bill - a proposed new law that it says represents a move toward 'achieving the vision of genuine economic empowerment for all South Africans'.

But, in her latest News 24 article, journalist Carol Paton ponders whether the DA's latest campaign to end BBBEE will damage its chances at the polls with black voters?

According to Paton, as a strategic choice, the campaign raises the question of the future of the DA.

Does the DA want to grow or does it want to stay the same, she wonders.

"We've got an ANC on its knees... are those voters going to come across to the DA? Does the DA want them to come across to the DA? Or is the DA just going to say, we are who we are?"

Paton suggeststhat if the DA is going to pursue its anti-BBBEE campaign, it's more inclined to stay the same.

"Than to say, well, we're just going to make sure that we're more attractive to black voters."

Paton added that while the DA likes to promote itself as the country's most non-racial party, the actual statistics tell a different story.

"A very small percent of black voters... went to the DA."

For almost 30 years, BBBEE has been the government’s key tool for economic transformation. But while it was created to correct the injustices of the past, critics says it has often missed the mark.

The DA says that instead of redressing past injustices, BBBEE has "entrenched a millionaire class of politically connected insiders".

Under the party's new model, it promises that preference for government business will be given to companies that make "measurable contributions toward clearly defined goals", and that race will no longer be the indicator of disadvantage.

To listen to Carol Paton in conversation with CapeTalk's John Maytham, click the audio below.