This trend has alarmed the small layer of wealthy blacks in South Africa. It brought forth a proposal from the Black Economic Empowerment Commission, chaired by Cyril Ramaphosa--the most prominent spokesperson for this layer--for government legislation to boost "black empowerment." There is already legislation on the books, in the early stages of implementation, demanding employer compliance with affirmative action in hiring and training for Blacks and women, as well as laws to promote small business.

Ramaphosa rose to prominence in working-class mobilizations against white-minority rule and became the general secretary of the National Union of Mineworkers. He was part of the African National Congress delegation in negotiations to form a post-apartheid constitution, and was subsequently elected ANC secretary-general.

But in 1996 he abandoned day-to-day responsibilities in the organization to become the standard-bearer for what is referred to by the capitalist media and government and business officials as "black empowerment." He first headed New Africa Investments Limited, which was a spectacular failure. Today he is chairman of Johnnic, a media and publishing group whose three companies make up 78 percent of the "empowerment" shares on the exchange. Ramaphosa remains a member of the ANC National Executive Committee.

After the first democratic, nonracial elections in 1994, which marked the end of apartheid, companies such as Anglo American Corp., recognizing a need to politically distance themselves from their central role in organizing and maintaining white-minority rule, sold hunks of their businesses to aspirant black capitalists. However, these deals were funded by massive debts that must still be repaid. As a result, many of the post-1994 "empowerment" businesses are in trouble.  
 
Mbeki supports ‘black capitalist class’
The perspective of enrichment of a layer of blacks has the support of South African and ANC president Thabo Mbeki. "As part of the realization of the aim to eradicate racism in our country, we must strive to create and strengthen a black capitalist class," he told a 1999 conference of the Black Management Forum, which initiated the Ramaphosa commission. "This is and must be an important part of the process of the deracialization of the ownership of productive property in our country."

A large proportion of those in the front ranks of "empowerment" are members and former leaders of the ANC. For example, the former commander of the ANC’s armed wing, Umkhonto we Sizwe (MK), Joe Modise, who subsequently served as defense minister, is now the director of companies that have won or are seeking government military contracts. A report in the Financial Mail magazine estimates that former MK leaders have won about four billion rands (about $500 million) worth of military subcontracts.

Former posts and telecommunications minister Jay Naidoo, who was also previously a top official of the Congress of South African Trade Unions (COSATU), quit his post to form an information technology company. Mac Maharaj, a prominent leader of the ANC, departed his post as transport minister to become a director of FirstRand bank.  
 
Devastation of workers, farmers
South Africa is the biggest economic power south of the Sahara, a result of the brutal superexploitation of black workers, who were stripped of their land and cattle in increasing numbers from the time the European colonizers first landed in 1652, and then denied all rights under the whip of the apartheid rulers.

The modern economy was built on the mineral wealth controlled by the mining houses, particularly gold and diamonds, from the last quarter of the 19th century. The economy remains highly monopolized, with a handful of companies such as Anglo American lording over a huge spread of factories and farms, and a few banks dominating finance.

South Africa’s economy is being severely squeezed by the economic downturn in North America. "SA’s economy sputtered along at a surprisingly slow pace in the first quarter, casting a pall over hopes that the country would notch up a respectable growth rate of 3.5 percent this year. SA needs to grow at a rate of at least about 6 percent a year to make inroads into its huge unemployment problem," said a report in the May 29 Business Day, published in Johannesburg.

Manufacturing growth came in at only 1.1 percent in the first quarter. Exports fell 15 percent in April. The currency, the rand, is worth about half what it was in dollar terms in 1995. Reflecting worldwide trends, the stock market here is sharply down from two years ago.

The Ramaphosa commission report was presented to Mbeki in May. It raises proposals mainly aimed at how the state should direct assets and finances to help turn around the stagnation of capital accumulation by a layer of blacks. For example, the authors of the report advocate measures to bring black share ownership on the stock exchange to 25 percent within 10 years.

While weighted in this direction, the commission says a Black Empowerment Act is also needed to improve conditions for workers and peasants. Such an act would require companies bidding for government contracts to submit reports detailing things such as procurement to black suppliers and black ownership. It calls for an end to the widespread discrimination in lending and for the establishment of a national database of black suppliers.

"The economy today is owned largely by white people," Ramaphosa told the Johannesburg Sunday Independent earlier this year. "It’s managed by white people, it’s controlled by white people, and even the way the market operates is more orientated to satisfying the needs of the minority."  
 
Class struggle in countryside
The commission’s report supports the government’s ongoing program of privatizing state-owned industries, a move that has been resisted by the unions. It encourages expanding loans for farm and other enterprises in rural areas, as well as funds to improve roads and other infrastructure in the countryside.

Under apartheid, blacks were not allowed to farm and millions were banished to impoverished rural "homelands" that were used as labor reserves by mining and other capitalists. More than 75 percent of agricultural land is still owned by whites, much of it contained in huge capitalist farm enterprises. This blocks the formation of a modern class structure and prevents millions of peasants and farm workers from drawing wealth from the land and producing cash crops.

Because racism, and the economic setup established under apartheid, remains part of the day-to-day experience of most blacks in South Africa, the commission’s proposals are likely to gain a hearing among large numbers of workers and peasants who face desperate conditions, in addition to the growing middle-class.

The commission’s report comes amidst a vacuum of other proposals before the government to address these questions, barring those of the mostly white capitalist opposition parties. The "free-market" proposals of the latter fail to mask their hostility to affirmative action.

To date, the ANC government has emphasized building a more efficient and productive economy through fiscal conservatism, privatization of state assets, and relaxing labor laws to the benefit of the employers.

The proposal for legislation has not been welcomed in ruling-class circles. The South African Chamber of Business rejected it, saying, "Artificial means to achieve BEE [black economic empowerment] could be detrimental for the economy that desperately needs higher levels of growth that will be sustainable.... The government’s macro-economic strategy (Growth, Employment and Redistribution) if applied in its entirety is more appropriate to secure the economic growth envisaged."

Meanwhile, the union federation COSATU estimates that 1 million jobs have been eliminated over the past decade, and one in three workers is out of a job. Official unemployment is put at between 22 percent and 27 percent, figures that do not include those who have given up looking for work. If they are included, unemployment is about 35 percent. In May, the Unemployment Insurance Fund, which provides minimal support to workers laid off in the "formal" sector, was declared technically bankrupt.

"We are still losing jobs at an alarming rate," COSATU said in a May Day statement. "We still have two worlds in a single country, although a few black businessmen and government officials have managed to get visas into the privileged state that the white minority has always enjoyed."  
 
 
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