Tony Leon says BEE laws should be condensed

Democratic Alliance leader Tony Leon says all of the charters, laws and codes of Black Economic Empowerment should be condensed into one clear set of rules. Addressing the Black Management Forum, Leon said complying with BEE requirements took time, expertise and money, which raises the cost of doing business, discourages investment and hurts the economy. Leon also suggested that firms that have complied with earlier BEE requirements should be exempted from new ones. According to reports, Leon criticised some government departments for seeming eager to introduce their own equity targets, independent of what the Codes of Good Practice said.