DA Petitions IMF To ‘Censure’ SA Government’s Use of Race-Based COVID-19 Relief Funds

Charles Molele

The DA’s interim leader John Steenhuisen has written a petition to the International Monetary Fund (IMF), requesting the financial policy-setting body to oppose the use of black economic empowerment (BEE) policies as a requirement to receive COVID-19 relief funds.

Steenhuisen, a virulent critic of the ANC government’s BEE policy, said because most COVID-19 relief funds came from the IMF loan, the policy-setting body should instruct the government to stop using the money to promote BEE.

This comes after trade union Solidarity and lobby group AfriForum headed for the Constitutional Court to ask it to urgently hear their appeal against the Pretoria High Court, which recently upheld Tourism Minister Mmamoloko Kubayi-Ngubane’s position that firms should comply with Broad-Based Black Economic Empowerment (BBBEEE) rules to benefit from the R20 million Tourism Relief Fund.

“I have today sent a written petition to the Managing Director of the International Monetary Fund (IMF),