Parliament, Wednesday, 5 September 2018 – The Portfolio Committee on Economic Development has learnt with mixed feelings of the imminent departure of the chief executive officer (CEO) of the Industrial Development Corporation (IDC), Mr Geoffrey Qhena, who will vacate office on 31 December 2018.
The IDC, an agency of the Economic Development Department, is of natural interest to this Portfolio Committee and we have had to interact with this institution over the years as part of our oversight responsibility.
Ntate Geoffrey Qhena’s qualifications are in the public record. Of the twenty-odd years he spent at one of the most important finance development institutions, he rightly sat at the helm as the CEO for thirteen of those. As has been correctly reported, the IDC grew its asset base from R31 billion in 2004, to R137 billion in 2018, amongst its many achievements.
The committee’s own testimony of the man is based on its interactions with Mr Qhena and the teams he has led to those engagements over the years, recently characterised by a cohort of very capable black young men and women.
The IDC is one of the oldest development finance institutions in the country. It has had its own challenges precisely because of the broad mandate it has carried in the transformation project post-1994. Its successes in carrying out that mandate can hardly be ignored. The IDC has also reached out to areas where it previously did not support the people, especially in the rural parts of South Africa.
The portfolio committee has engaged the IDC on its many programmes and ideas. Of the latter, we have witnessed the institution’s push towards the unequivocal idea of an inclusive and transformed economy. These include the Black Industrialists programme, youth entrepreneurship, and protecting the jobs of breadwinners through strategic private sector investments, some of which might not always have been understood by those seeking an inward-looking vision.
The IDC’s own evolution speaks volumes about the political gains that have been achieved through the revolution led by the people. The portfolio committee thus pays tribute to Mr Qhena, an impeccable professional, a strategist of note and a naturally astute leader, par excellence.
The committee trusts that Mr Qhena will be given the necessary support as he hands over office. For its part, the committee will remain vigilant in its oversight responsibility to ensure that the IDC grows, not only beyond its critics’ imagination, but in light of the urgent need to bring it closer to those who need it the most. It is also important to emphasise that the committee will continue to hold the CEO and his team accountable for the 2018/19 plans, as presented before it during the last budgetary review cycle.
We join the people in thanking Mr Qhena for his service. We wish him well always, and trust that he will not be entirely lost to the public service to which he has shown undeniable commitment.
ISSUED BY THE PARLIAMENTARY COMMUNICATION SERVICES ON BEHALF OF THE PORTFOLIO COMMITTEE ON ECONOMIC DEVELOPMEMT, MS ELSIE MMATHULARE COLEMAN.
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