Africa-Press – South-Africa. A radical new model for SA’s troubled state-owned enterprises (SOEs) could be on the cards, with the approval this week of the draft National State Enterprises Bill, which would lay the basis for private equity investment in state companies and listings on the stock exchange.
This will include the biggest “commercial” state enterprises, such as Eskom and Transnet, which will be moved into a newly created State Asset Management Company. It is the culmination of five years of work by Public Enterprises Minister Pravin Gordhan, advised by some of the members of the Presidential State-Owned Enterprises Council. The council itself has not produced a policy document.
The bill is expected to be published for public comment in the Government Gazette on Friday.
Gordhan has previously said that the model would have the advantage of separating the state’s ownership functions from its policy and regulatory functions, minimising the scope for political interference, and introducing greater professionalism into the entities.
He has also previously said that the new model would replace the Department of Public Enterprises, which would cease to exist.
It is unclear, though, how the model proposed by Gordhan will be received by the ANC, which in December last year passed a resolution that all state-owned companies should return to their line departments. In particular, the ANC wanted to see Eskom housed in the Department of Energy.
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