The Democratic Alliance (DA) has threatened to drag Small Business Development Minister Khumbudzo Ntshavheni to court should BBBEE principles be used as a criterion for the disbursement of COVID-19 funds by her department.
The DA says its lawyers wrote to Ntshavheni on April 10 seeking clarity on whether the race of business owners and their employees is relevant in the distribution of coronavirus funds.
Party leader John Steenhuizen says Ntshavheni appears to have made a turn on comments last month in which she dismissed reports of race-based COVID-19 relief for SMMEs as “fake news.”
He says Ntshavheni has until close of business on Wednesday to clarify her Department’s position.
“Yesterday’s turn by the minister makes a mockery of government’s SMME relief measures, and is an insult to thousands of struggling small business owners who not only contribute hundreds of millions of rands in tax revenue, but who also employ thousands of people who now stand to lose their jobs, many of whom are black.”
“It also makes a mockery of the President’s appeal for unity in the fight to overcome this pandemic and its economic effects. These ministers who are intent on excluding South Africans from emergency relief measures because of the colour of their skin this requires the President to call them to order and reverse this decision.”
In this video, 30 000 SMMEs have already applied for various relief funds to pay spiralling debts:
