Gordhan ruined SA

In the past 10 years, state-owned enterprises (SOEs) have sucked up R581bn in state funding — on Pravin Gordhan’s watch, that figure is R330bn. The figure for Transnet alone is R130bn (“Pravin Gordhan leaves a mixed legacy,” March 13).

If these businesses were privately run, with a turnover of R300bn, they would be generating a profit of about 5% or R15bn, and generating tax revenue of R5bn.

SOEs employ about 100,000 people, and according to the electricity minister the estimated number of job losses due to load-shedding alone is 640,000. Transnet’s collapse is threatening another 35,000 direct jobs in mining.

In addition, mining companies lost about R150bn in turnover in 2023, a tax loss of a further R5bn. SAA version two is already suffering a R250m loss, Eskom’s projected losses to the end of March are expected to amount to R23bn, and Transnet’s to R5bn.

I travelled recently from Potchefstroom to Cape Town and saw not one freight train on the railway lines in 24 hours. Looking at the vgbe report on Eskom confirmed what former Eskom CEO André De Ruiter saw there — dysfunction, with too many unqualified people running the place. The private sector could sort it out. Why? Well, why do Airlink and Safair make a profit while SAA loses money hand over fist? It comes down to efficiency and the bottom line.

Gordhan is an arrogant man who has taken SA to financial stagnation, leading to lack of investor confidence, job losses and country debt by sticking to his socialist dogma of state involvement and “letting them feed”. That is his legacy.

Rob Tiffin Cape Town