No. 2 South African Party Slams $5.4 Billion Black-Fund Plan

South Africa’s second-biggest party criticized the trade minister’s plan to start a 100 billion-rand ($5.4 billion) fund to boost Black-owned businesses by using a tax on existing firms’ profit.

Under the country’s rules on so-called Black economic empowerment, companies are contributing 3% of their annual after-tax profit to the development of Black suppliers through various initiatives. The trade department wants to start the so-called Transformation Fund by channeling that money specifically to the new plan, Minister Parks Tau said in a response to lawmakers’ questions this month.