Thirteen years ago our democracy was forged on principles of equality and non-racialism. Yet since then, the ANC has consistently eroded those principles to the point where formal race classification is being reintroduced.

This is the clear implication of the ANC's most recent policy initiatives.  In one week there have been three developments which illustrate that race and political connections are, once again, the key determinants of opportunity in our country.

Instead of advancing the interests of the majority of South Africans, these initiatives are likely to have the opposite effect, by slowing growth, undermining service delivery, worsening unemployment, and encouraging emigration.

According to reports this week in the Gauteng daily Beeld, the Tshwane metro council has placed a ban on the use of services offered by "white businesses". The council's municipal manager, Kiba Kekana, approved a decision to award tenders exclusively to black-run small and medium-sized businesses.

Such a resolution amounts to naked racism and flies in the face of the Constitution, which explicitly states that government contracts for goods or services must be carried out in a system that is "fair, equitable, transparent, competitive and cost effective" but which allows for the advancement of those disadvantaged by unfair discrimination.

The sentiments of the Constitution have been repeatedly echoed by Treasury, who have forbidden the exclusion of certain categories of bidders, saying that such practice "has to be reviewed and corrected". National Treasury has made it clear that municipalities and municipal entities are required to give all potential suppliers an opportunity to bid for government contracts.

What the drafters of the Constitution foresaw thirteen years ago, and what Treasury still recognises, is that the South African economy simply cannot afford to entrench racist and unconstitutional policies.

They did not foresee, however, the extent to which the ANC in government would cynically manipulate the equity provisions in the Constitution to advance the economic interests of the politically connected few.  So far this confidence trick has succeeded in convincing millions of dispossessed South Africans that this policy serves their interests.  The opposite is true.  

This is particularly evident at local government level where billions of rands are spent each year procuring goods and services essential to basic service delivery.  The Procurement Act sets out a preferential points-based system which ensures that, while BEE credentials are heavily favoured, price and capacity to do the job are also key considerations. The system thus provides for taxpayers' money to be spent in the most efficient way so that the costs of these services are kept at manageable levels, and that delivery occurs, on time and at accepted standards.

In the vast majority of ANC-led local authorities, race and political connections have become the overriding consideration for the awarding of contracts.  This was evident when the DA-led coalition replaced the ANC in Cape Town.  Not only had the ANC put in place a 30% BEE prerequisite for tenders - they were using it as a cover to advance the economic interests of certain bidders with top political connections. When this kind of system becomes entrenched it actually discriminates against the majority of BEE companies, who stop tendering because they know the outcome is a foregone conclusion.  It also leads to inefficiency and is open to abuse and corruption. After acquiring legal advice that this requirement was unconstitutional (as the Constitution does not allow for discriminatory exclusion) Cape Town's multi-party government abolished the quota.

We were then able to implement the DA's equity programme with encouraging results. We opened opportunities instead of trying to manipulate outcomes, and the result was a 10% increase in the number of contracts awarded to BEE-companies. Because they knew we were running a fair and open process, many more BEE-compliant companies tendered, and produced competitive bids. This is sustainable, opportunity driven empowerment.

Abolishing the quota, encouraging all qualifying bids, opening the tendering process to scrutiny and abolishing political preferment, has ensured that the City, under DA-led administration, actually increased the number of tenders awarded to BEE companies by 10% over that recorded by the former ANC-administration.  The award of tenders to BEE companies stands at 50% in Cape Town through an open and fair process which considers equity alongside other criteria in the awarding of contracts.

By contrast, without a fair and competitive system in place, the ANC's manic obsession with race in Pretoria and other local authorities will only serve to disguise policies of cronyism and fool many people into believing that these policies promote black advancement, when they do the very opposite.  The predictable result will be a spiralling of costs, service delivery decline, the closure of businesses and the loss of jobs. The poor, in particular, will suffer.

I have been informed that our Pretoria caucus has written to the Minister of Finance, as well as the MEC for Finance in Gauteng to bring to their attention what we firmly believe to be an unconstitutional practice.

I have also instructed my office to explore our legal options should their response not be favourable and I am fully prepared to take this matter all the way to the Constitutional Court if necessary.

Another illustration of race obsession gone mad was the arbitrary call this week by Jimmy Manyi, Chair of the Commission for Employment Equity, for white women to be excluded from the category of persons qualifying for advancement under equity legislation.

The DA opposes many aspects of current equity legislation because they result in the abuses so clearly evident in local government procurement.  But Manyi's move makes the re-reracialisation of all aspects of South African society unambiguously clear.  Race is becoming the only proxy for disadvantage, irrespective of individual circumstances.  Thus, the privately-educated son of a Cabinet Minister is eligible for all the benefits of affirmative action as long as he is black.  The white girl orphaned at birth and raised on state grants must be excluded.  That is the logic of Manyi's racism.  It is the very opposite of equity.

Affirmative action should not be about predetermining outcomes or picking winners or losers from the start. It is about creating opportunities for those South Africans who were previously excluded from such opportunities on the basis of their circumstances, which include race and gender.  The state has a key role to play in ensuring that all South Africans have access to real opportunities.  Individuals then have the responsibility to use their opportunities to improve their lives through hard work.  There must be a clear link between effort and outcome.  That is the only way sustainable development occurs.

Mr Manyi would be far better served to focus his attention on ensuring that corporate South Africa has the necessary training and other programmes in place to ensure that all South Africans are able to compete on an equal footing.

The final example of racism to emerge this week was the recommendations of Shadrack Gutto's Commission which looked into the issue of foreign ownership of land. Ironically himself a foreigner, Professor Gutto recommended a return to apartheid-era legislation, requiring the disclosure of race in all property transactions. The disclosure would apply to all past, present and future registrations of property titles, undertaken by both locals and foreigners.

The duty to declare one's race, Gutto falsely argues, is similar to requirements contained in banking legislation - the Financial Intelligence Centre Act (FICA). However, FICA merely places a reasonable onus on financial institutions to verify the identity of clients to prevent money laundering. While the FICA requirement has a clear and effective purpose, it is unclear what government hopes to achieve by forcing all South Africans to identify their race when buying property.

The Commission also recommended that foreigners and South Africans who do not qualify for redress under government's land reform policies (i.e. white South Africans) be banned from buying state land.

With poverty remaining endemic, local and foreign direct investment (FDI) is critical for economic advancement and poverty alleviation. The only effect of government's ban would be to block a potential flow of investment into the economy, thus efficiently ensuring a slowdown in growth and job creation. South Africa lags far behind its emerging market counterparts in easing the cost of doing business. India, for example, is currently easing restrictions on foreign ownership of land, which it sees as the key to unlocking FDI.

If government's intention is to expand opportunities for land ownership for South Africans, it should do so by expediting the implementation of the Communal Land Rights Act which gives effective title to millions of black South Africans. The creation of a special purpose vehicle would also assist in purchasing the 4% of privately owned land that comes onto the market each year. If applied properly, these steps would significantly extend land ownership while boosting economic growth, rather than undermining opportunities for much needed investment.

Thirteen years after the advent of our hard won democracy it is a very sad reality that there remains a self-defeating obsession within the ranks of government to prioritise race above all other criteria. Indeed, the latest race-based policy will not be capable of implementation without the reintroduction of a Race Classification Act, to define racial categories and the criteria for assignment to each category.

As a nation we need to move beyond this self-destructive obsession and instead become focussed on creating the necessary opportunities for all South Africans to improve their lives, to contribute to development, and to compete on merit. Unless we do so, we will never build the prosperous nation we can become.

Helen Zille is the leader of the Democratic Alliance and mayor of Cape Town. This article appeared in her SA Today column on Friday.