Parliament, Thursday, 3 May 2018 – The Minister of Public Enterprises, Mr Pravin Gordhan, appeared before the joint committee meeting of the Portfolio Committee on Public Enterprises and the Select Committee on Communications and Public Enterprises yesterday (Wednesday 2 May 2018) to brief the joint committee on, among other things, the context of challenges facing the department and its state-owned companies (SOCs), in relation to the phenomenon of state capture.

Also the Department of Public Enterprises briefed the joint committee on its strategic and annual performance plans and budget for 2018/19.

Mr Gordhan told the joint committee about some of the key steps the department is taking to stabilise its entities. The steps, according to Mr Gordhan, include the change of the way boards are appointed; to eliminate the role of board members in procurement; stop the extraction and misuse of funds meant for development; to improve the turnaround time to intervene in the SOCs and improve accountability; to improve consequence management; to improve financial sustainability and eliminate dependency on the fiscus; to improve public trust on SOCs and to reposition them as drivers of economic development.

Mr Gordhan committed himself to presenting in two months on the financial viability of all SOCs. He also informed the joint committee that the department needed more time to interrogate the shareholder compacts as they were developed by the previous regime.

He briefed the joint committee on progress made since the change of political leadership in the department. The progress includes change of the board of Eskom, the board of Eskom is in the process of concluding the recruitment of the Group Chief Executive Officer and Chief Financial Officer of Eskom, the department is appointing a forensic investigation to look at the diamond business of Alexkor and there is also work done to investigate the performance of Safcol. At Denel, the new leadership is carrying on with the work that was initiated a few months ago.

The joint committee praised the decisiveness of Mr Gordhan in acting against corruption and all those people associated with state capture. The joint committee told Mr Gordhan that the department should align its key performance indicators with priorities set out in the 2018 State of the Nation Address and in the National Development Plan.

The joint committee raised concerns about the lack of effectiveness of strategies supporting small and medium-sized enterprises and promoting local content. The joint committee lambasted the Transnet board for the lack of actions that have been taken against Transnet officials who have been implicated in state capture allegations.

ISSUED BY THE PARLIAMENTARY COMMUNICATION SERVICES ON BEHALF OF THE CO-CHAIRPERSON OF THE JOINT MEETING OF THE PORTFOLIO COMMITTEE ON PUBLIC ENTERPRISES AND SELECT COMMITTEE ON COMMUNICATIONS AND PUBLIC ENTERPRISES, MS LUNGI MNGANGA-GCABASHE. 

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