class with close links to the ANC. Perhaps most prominently, several politically connected ANC stalwarts – notably Saki Macozoma, Tokyo Sexwale, Cyril Ramaphosa, and Patrice Motsepe – gained substantial wealth and influence in key sectors such as mining and finance through BEE deals. More broadly, BEE has been thought to increase the importance or perceived importance of political connections to gaining state contracts and other business incentives, with the extent of inter-linkages between the state and business providing "the conditions for the possible emergence of a corrupt and nepotistic governance system." Moreover, some have suggested that the highly leveraged arrangements used to finance many BEE endeavours – necessary because most black people left the apartheid era with little capital and limited access to the same – may, by increasing the indebtedness of BEE beneficiaries, "encourage a willingness to cut legal corners and lapse into criminality." Detractors argue, therefore, not only that BEE beneficiaries are a small elite, but also that they tend to be a politically connected elite, comprising especially the friends and family of government and ANC officials. Critics also argue that BEE has thus become a major cause of political corruption in South Africa, with government contracts improperly awarded, at inflated prices, to politically connected "tenderpreneurs," sometimes to the detriment of quality and service delivery. These concerns have received increased attention following revelations of state capture during the presidency of Jacob Zuma. There were, for example, allegations that BEE-related corruption had taken place at Bosasa and in the controversial Vrede Dairy Project. At the Zondo Commission, former Bosasa executive Angelo Agrizzi implicated BEE verification agency Empowerdex in corruption, and it was later confirmed that Gupta-owned companies, implicated in substantial corruption, had secured Eskom contracts using fraudulent BEE certificates. Minister of Finance Enoch Godongwana said in 2022 that increased corruption in government procurement was one of the most significant challenges facing BEE. Racialism Critics have questioned the appropriateness and fairness of the policy's use of racial classifications, themselves inherited from the apartheid era. This broad family of criticisms encompasses a range of views, including that using race markers further entrenches their power; that race is a suboptimal proxy for economic disadvantage; and that BEE constitutes a form of unjust or unconstitutional racial discrimination or "reverse racism" against whites. Economic effects Investment Some critics argue that BEE deters investment in South Africa. Although BEE is not technically compulsory (unless the