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A general view of the city of Johannesburg is seen as the sun rises, in Johannesburg, South Africa.
The Black Management Forum (BMF) has sounded the alarm on South Africa’s deepening inequalities, as leaders from business, government, labour, and civil society gather in Gqeberha in the Eastern Cape for the organisation’s 2025 Policy Conference.
The forum is pushing for urgent action to shift the country from exclusion to meaningful economic participation. With unemployment stubbornly high, poverty entrenched in provinces like the Eastern Cape, and the Government of National Unity under growing pressure, Black Movement Forum President Mpho Motsei says it is time to encourage entrepreneurship, focusing on marginalised groups.
“The economy of any other country is dependent on entrepreneurship. It’s dependent on small businesses because those are the ones that can be able to employ as many people as possible. So, it’s for us to train our people to think about owning their own businesses because it will give them the opportunity to employ as many people as possible.”
Deputy Minister in the Presidency, for Women, Youth and People with Disabilities, Steve Letsike, has called for stronger transformation measures.
“The South African private sector still has to do a lot of work; procurement equity and inclusive financing cannot be optional. There must be part of the architecture that really looks at a transformed economy that brings Black women, youth and persons with disabilities into the center of production.”
