Carol Paton | Govt's BEE procurement regime puts heavy tax on SA

Government procurement has become the central vehicle to drive empowerment. But it is difficult to achieve value for money in tenders and transformation at the same time. The price is a tax across the economy, particularly on infrastructure, writes Carol Paton. 

Government procurement budgets have become the most important avenue to drive more black economic empowerment. 

With the economy weak and stagnant, opportunities for black businesses to get a foothold in commercial activity are few and far between. This is even more so the case for black business startups, for which the easiest and perhaps only way to break into the economy is by winning a slice of a government contract.