# Regulatory Compliance Category > BEE and Employment Equity Forum >  Would non-racial affirmative action succeed?

## Dave A

COPE has rolled out a non-racial view on affirmative action.



> Leaders of the Congress of the People (Cope) emerged from the party's four-day conference yesterday emphasising that they backed the stringent fiscal policies espoused by finance minister Trevor Manuel, but favoured adjusting empowerment and affirmative action policies to benefit everyone who needed to be affirmed, including white people. 
> 
> "Let us immediately and upfront say we have been part of government until very recently," said Mosiuoa Lekota, who was confirmed as president of a party widely seen as posing a significant challenge to the ANC. 
> 
> "We were in full support of very many measures, including [the macroeconomic framework]. We can't change things for the sake of changing them, unless we can provide something better." 
> 
> Speaking at the closing session of the Cope founding conference, Lekota said a non-racial tool should be used to determine whether someone should enjoy state support - whether it be loans for small business, university bursaries or social welfare grants. 
> 
> He said there was a need to support young whites who were academically capable but could not afford university fees.
> full story from Business Report here


Already the Black Lawyers Association has come out against the idea.



> The Black Lawyers Association (BLA) expressed concern on Wednesday over new Cope president Mosiuoa Lekota's statement on affirmative action, labelling it as a "threat". 
> 
> At the party's inaugural conference in Bloemfontein on Tuesday, Lekota said the Congress of the People would abide by the Constitution and was committed to the policy of affirmative action. 
> 
> However, Lekota also stated that affirmative action should not be implemented on the basis of race.
> 
> Said BLA president Andiswa Ndoni: "This statement exhibits a lack of understanding of the rationale behind employment equity and broad-based economic empowerment policies.
> 
> "Both these policies were meant to enable black people to participate as equals within the corporate world and the economy."
> ...


Personally, I'm reminded of an old adage - "You don't have to make back your money the same way you lost it."

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## Dave A

COPE has clarified their BEE policy.



> The Congress of the People (Cope) on Thursday denied that it is against the country's black empowerment policies, saying its position on affirmative action has been "misinterpreted". 
> 
> "Cope has noted various media reports that seem to have misinterpreted our policy positions on black economic empowerment (BEE) and affirmative action -- Cope believes strongly in affirmative action and BEE as necessary instruments of the change we profess," the organisation said in a statement.
> 
> This was after the Black Lawyers' Association (BLA) had launched an attack on Cope leader Mosiuoa Lekota for suggesting affirmation action should be scrapped.
> 
> However, Cope, which released its entire BEE policy to the media on Thursday, said its concerns about BEE and affirmative action were around the manner in which it was being implemented, and not the policies' intentions.
> 
> "Because of the skills distortions in the economy, policies intended to redress the past, notably affirmative action, have
> ...

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## Dave A

And here we have the state of BEE according to JZ:



> The way broad-based black economic empowerment is put into effect needs reviewing, ANC president Jacob Zuma said on Tuesday. 
> 
> Zuma said affirmative action and the broad-based black economic empowerment (BBEE) programme had increased the black middle class substantially.
> 
> "[But] we are not convinced that it has succeeded in addressing the structural economic and social inequalities in our society," he told the Confederation of Black Business Organisations (CBBO) in Sandton.
> full story from M&G here


Isn't that what COPE said?

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## Graeme

One can become so tired of this "inequalities in  society" claptrap - _of course_ there are inequalities! There always have been and always will be; that's the way people are made.

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