Little progress on Pravin Gordhan’s promised overhaul of state firms in medium-term budget
There was little new on state-owned enterprises in Wednesday’s budget policy statement, and scant progress to report on reforms promised by Finance Minister Pravin Gordhan in February. In tabling the February budget, Gordhan promised a new approach to state-owned entities, involving co-investment from the private sector, the rationalisation or closure of some companies and the merging of others. A regulatory framework for private-sector participation in infrastructure projects and in initiatives with state-owned companies remains in development, said budget documents. Treasury has also taken steps, it said, to stabilise several entities that it said posed a risk to public finances. These include the appointment of a full board to South African Airways (SAA), a new board and CE for the South African Post Office (Sapo), which has raised funding to pay creditors, and the recapitalisation of Eskom last year. These entities in particular pose a risk to public finances and are being close...
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