Ten years ago the presidential review committee appointed by then president Jacob Zuma delivered a report to the cabinet in which the partial privatisation/public listing of state-owned entities (SOE) was strongly suggested. Our first feedback was that it was received positively by the cabinet.
However, it appears it was then shelved to allow unprecedented looting of what remained in these entities. Now they’re all truly on their knees and the collateral damage to the economy is nothing short of disastrous. The government keeps talking up something that is impossible to achieve.
Workers are striking for better wages but also resisting privatisation. They don’t seem to get yet that the taps that drip their salaries are rapidly drying up. Now is the time to sell off these entities, and to do it with haste. There are many good people out there who can run these potentially strong businesses effectively and pay productive workers properly.
Right now the government’s incompetence and political power plays are increasingly strangling the life out of the SOEs and the workers that barely hold them up. The imperative is undeniable. Put up the “For Sale” signs and rekindle hope in this dying country.
Deon Crafford, Pretoria
JOIN THE DISCUSSION: Send us an email with your comments to letters@businesslive.co.za. Letters of more than 300 words will be edited for length. Anonymous correspondence will not be published. Writers should include a daytime telephone number.