CAPE TOWN: It has created a wealthy black elite, but has been decried for leaving millions of people behind; advocates say it has helped redress the economic wrongs of apartheid but critics argue it is deeply flawed.

South Africa's Black Economic Empowerment (BEE) policy was supposed to bring the black majority into the mainstream economy, but as opponents grow more vocal, there are signs the government may be ready for a rethink.

Through the BEE, the state is pushing companies to meet quotas on black ownership, employment and procurement to increase the majority's share in the white-dominated economy. Often, however, lucrative deals have gone to a few businessmen with ties to the ruling African National Congress (ANC).

“There is concern that ... masses of black people are not benefiting like the ANC would like to see them benefiting,” said Prince Mashele, a policy researcher at the Institute for Security Studies.

“It is a fundamental question that the ANC broadly is grappling with.”

The congress long saw opposition to black economic empowerment as an attempt by whites to retain old privileges, but the party now seems to be listening as workers grow more disgruntled over stark income gaps.

A July government study showed there was a dramatic increase last year in strikes by labourers who felt they had been left behind in a booming economy where companies and their directors were enjoying hefty windfalls.

“Top management are earning millions, while the workers struggle to make a decent living,” powerful trade union COSATU said in a statement in March in support of pay-related strikes.

“While management continue to reap the benefits of workers' sweat, the standard of living of workers has continued to drop.”

The ANC has yet to even hint at any possible changes to the BEE policy, and analysts say it is difficult to regulate since compliance is voluntary for firms, but there are signs of a sea change in government thinking.

In August, the ANC said it was drafting a code of conduct to address complaints that the system benefited people with links to the ruling party. It has also sought to include more ordinary South Africans in the scheme by putting more emphasis on small businesses and employment and gender quotas.

But 12 years after the first all-race poll marked the end of apartheid, South Africa still has some of the biggest income gaps in the world, largely drawn along racial lines.—Reuters