This petition is submitted to formally object to the proposed gazetting of the South African Government’s Transformation Fund in its current form.

While the intention to advance inclusive economic participation is supported, the proposed model risks undermining existing, proven B-BBEE development mechanisms and may lead to unintended economic and social consequences that are not in the best interests of South Africa.

Key concerns include:

• Historical challenges and inefficiencies associated with government managed funds
• Potential job losses arising from the disruption or replacement of existing ESD programmes
• Increased corporate social and reputational risk due to reduced direct development oversight
• Likely cancellation or scaling down of active Enterprise and Supplier Development initiatives
• Incompatibility with existing B-BBEE scoring frameworks, creating points disparities
• Increased corporate B-BBEE expenditure without guaranteed measurable impact
   

We therefore call for the reconsideration of the proposed structure and for broader stakeholder engagement to ensure transformation remains practical, accountable and economically sustainable.