Turnaround Strategies For Embattled SOEs Like Transnet, Eskom and SAA Designed To Drive Economic Growth – Ramaphosa

CYRIL RAMAPHOSA|

FOR some years now, South Africa’s state-owned enterprises have mostly been associated in the public eye with state capture, financial mismanagement and inefficiency.

In addition to needing regular bailouts from government, some of the country’s biggest and most important state-owned companies have been struggling to meet their mandates.
 
These state-owned enterprises (SOEs) should be at the forefront of economic and social transformation.

They are responsible for providing the infrastructure and the services on which the economy depends, whether it be in the generation of electricity, commuter transport, water provision, freight logistics or telecommunications.
 
It is important to remember that the state does not own these companies simply for the sake of it, or because this is what the democratic government inherited from the apartheid state.

Rather, our approach to state ownership is informed by the need for the effective functioning of key network industries, such as