BUDGET 2003
Boost for black empowerment
26 February 2003
Finance Minister Trevor Manuel has set aside R10-billion towards the support of black economic empowerment over the next five years.
Delivering his annual Budget speech in Parliament in Cape Town on Wednesday, Manuel said a particular challenge for the decade ahead was the broadening of economic participation.
"Alongside sectoral initiatives to deepen participation in the ownership and management of South African companies and implementation of the preferential procurement policy framework, government proposes to set aside R10-billion over the next five years to support the funding of new ventures and business expansions that meet agreed empowerment criteria."
He added that the move would in part be financed from the extraordinary proceeds of the exchange control measures announced in the Budget.
"A new mandate for the National Empowerment Fund, and a review of the roles of other development finance and support institutions,
to ensure that these resources are effectively and efficiently employed, will be developed by the national treasury and the department of trade and industry", Manuel elaborated.
During his State of the Nation address earlier this month, President Thabo Mbeki said economic growth, development and black economic empowerment were complementary and related to each other.
"The empowerment we speak of is an inclusive process and not an exclusive one. Equally it follows that an economy that is not growing cannot integrate all its citizens into that economy in a meaningful way", Mbeki said.
"We will introduce into parliament early this year a basic enabling piece of legislation that will establish broad parameters for the policy and allow for the publication of the Strategy Document and Guidelines dealing with good practice in terms of the policy, all of which will make up the Global Transformation Charter" the President said.
Source: BuaNews
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