Not much wrong with state-owned firms — just a lapse in governance, says Gigaba
The only problem with state-owned entities is a lapse in governance, according to Finance Minister Malusi Gigaba. Speaking at the Ekurhuleni Investment Conference on Monday, Gigaba said: "Often we talk ourselves down in a whole lot of ways. If you look at most of our SOEs, they actually are functioning very well. "Even those who have one or two problems are making a significant contribution to the economy." Eskom had massive investment programmes with three new power stations coming up that would power the South African economy, he said. And without South African Airways‚ tourists and businesspeople would not be able to fly to and around SA. "You would be made to believe that all is not well with our state-owned entities," he said. SAA last made a profit in 2011 and relies on government funding to keep it afloat. Eskom had R322bn worth of debt at March 1. The first problem to fix was the governance of SOEs. "Problems are created by a lapse of governance… because of the shareholder d...
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