A sizeable chunk of relief funds pledged by the National Empowerment Fund and Solidarity Fund – meant to revive businesses all but destroyed by the July riots in KZN and Gauteng – has been reserved for black business owners only. Public interest business organisation Sakeliga has filed a request under the Promotion of Access to Information Act (PAIA) to see a list “of all disbursements made, the terms of thereof, and the terms (if any) attached to donations by the Solidarity Fund”. The NEF wrote in a mid-July press statement that “the beneficiary enterprises had to be owned and managed by black entrepreneurs” in order to qualify for assistance. BizNews spoke to Piet le Roux, CEO of Sakeliga, about why they oppose such a move.
