# Trade union Solidarity has criticised president Cyril Ramaphosa’s defence of black economic empowerment in the mining sector. The union’s new report indicates the mining sector has shrunk significantly since 1994, with reduced output and job losses. It argues current transformation policies are restricting growth and investment. Solidarity’s Theuns du Buisson claims the benefits of BEE have largely gone to a small group of elites, while ordinary workers have seen limited gains: