(Siphiwe Sibeko/Reuters)
On 20 March, the department of trade, industry and competition published the Transformation Fund draft policy for public comment.
It is intended to aggregate enterprise and supplier development funds from business organisations and the Competition Commission’s public interest participation investment commitments in support of transformation in the economy.
There has been resistance to the fund, with some calling it another avenue for corruption. Others dismiss it as an extra burden on businesses.
There has been resistance to the fund, with some calling it another avenue for corruption. Others dismiss it as an extra burden on businesses. It is also criticised for a lack of intention and effort in eradicating systemic and structural exclusion of black women from being key economic players.
The criticism is misplaced and also ignores the necessity of the fund in addressing the slow pace of transformation, racialised gender and class household disparities, racial hierarchies in labour markets and unequal wealth levels.
The proposed fund alleviates racialised gender inequalities by elevating three essential proposals. First, it advocates for specifically supporting small, medium and micro enterprises (SMMEs) owned by black women and other designated groups such as youth and people living with disabilities.
This broadens the conversation around black women’s economic empowerment beyond the confines of the labour market, which is often limited to the lowest-paying and non-senior roles.
Entrepreneurship and other non-wage forms of livelihood practices should be essential parts of national economic strategies aimed at alleviating black women’s socio-economic exclusion. The Transformation Fund identifies black women owned SMMEs as key policy beneficiaries.
Second, the fund proposes several measures to address a long-standing problem for economic gender equality in South Africa: access to finance. Conventional commercial and development finance policy instruments have made it difficult for black women to access capital.
Risk measures and regulatory frameworks are gender blind and they often ignore structural realities facing black women. For example, the use of collateral assessments based on property and land overlooks the general gendered land access and asset ownership disparities in South Africa.
This also applies to stringent off-take requirements, which often assume that black women have adequate access to demand or procurement contracts in sectors still largely dominated by white and male-owned businesses. Various reports by the Competition Commission highlight South Africa’s rigid and exclusionary market structures, which continue to impede black women’s access to market share.
Third, the proposed fund identifies high-impact sectors that can drive economic transformation. Among these is agriculture, which holds significant potential for advancing black women’s economic empowerment.
Agriculture is already a sector with a high concentration of women labourers — many of whom remain confined to low-paying, informal or seasonal roles, underscoring the need for targeted support that enables their upward mobility and ownership within the value chain.
A dedicated focus on diversifying agriculture and agro-processing is essential in a context of high food insecurity and gendered economic exclusion.
This proposal shifts from a focus on mining, energy and finance that has dominated previous black economic empowerment transactions. It also creates an opportunity to link agricultural economic transformation with social policy programmes such as the school nutrition and social transfer initiatives.
Brazil’s school nutrition programme under President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva’s administration followed a similar model and yielded notable socio-economic benefits.
The supply chains tied to these areas of government expenditure can be strategically restructured to enable greater integration of black women into agricultural value chains.
By empowering black women economically, we are not only fulfilling a moral and legal obligation but also unlocking a powerful force for transformative change in South Africa’s socio-economic landscape.
Sarah Mokwebo is an activist, feminist and writer focusing on gender equality, climate justice and inclusive development in Africa’s financial, infrastructure, and industrial landscapes.
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