Parliament, Wednesday, 16 October 2024 –According to National Treasury, by the year 2025/26, the power utility Eskom will have received a staggering R496 billion in bailouts since 2008/09. National Treasury yesterday gave the Standing Committee on Appropriations an update on the first-quarter performance of various state-owned enterprises, covering the period from April to June 2024.
National Treasury told the committee that bailouts have contributed enormously to low levels of service delivery, as they have taken the lion’s share of funds that could have been directed to other pressing issues. The government has dispersed bailouts to key SOEs, with Eskom, South African Airways (SAA), the South African National Roads Limited and Transnet being the biggest recipients of government bailouts.
Members of the committee expressed their concerns that Eskom has breached one of the conditions of the bailout, which directed it to dispose of its Eskom Finance Company by 31 March 2024 while National Treasury had to reduce its debt allocation by R2 billion.
As the performance of SOEs remains a crucial risk to the country, the committee met to consider various SOEs’ quarterly performance. The Chairperson of the committee, Mr Mmusi Maimane, said: “The committee seeks to ensure that there’s better accountability with line functions from SOEs. And, as we review their annual performance plans, there’s a call to limit bailouts to these institutions because when they underperform there are going to be serious problems for all South Africans.”
Regarding South African Airways, the committee noted with concern that since the collapse of the Takatso deal, no equity partner conversation is on the table. The committee called for a reflection on lessons learnt from the SAA–Takatso deal to avoid the same costly mistakes in future.
The committee considers underperforming SOEs as a serious threat to the fiscus and calls for honest conversations about their long-term sustainability in the current economic climate.
ISSUED BY THE PARLIAMENTARY COMMUNICATION SERVICES ON BEHALF OF THE CHAIRPERSON OF THE STANDING COMMITTEE ON APPROPRIATIONS, MR MMUSI MAIMANE.
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