Parastatals ‘won’t be sold’

TURNAROUND STRATEGY: RAMAPHOSA INSISTS STATE-OWNED ENTERPRISES CAN BE SAVED

Govt supports SAA business rescue because there is no other viable option.

President Cyril Ramaphosa has allayed fears that the government is planning to privatise the state-owned enterprises (SOEs) and has assured that the state’s ownership will continue.

He said the government supported South African Airways business rescue because there was no other viable and financially workable option for a credible future for the airline.

“The financial crisis had become so grave that the only way to secure its survival was to take this extraordinary measure. With the support of lenders, government, management and workers, SAA will continue to operate while the airline undergoes the restructuring needed to make it a viable company,” he said.

Writing in his latest online weekly newsletter, From the Desk of the President, published yesterday, Ramaphosa said business rescue was not the preferred option for fixing SOEs and it was not necessarily advisable in other circumstances.

“But the resolve we have shown in putting SAA into business rescue cuts across all key SOEs. Whether it is Transnet or Eskom, Denel or Prasa, we are taking all necessary measures to turn them around,” he said.

The government would apply strict conditional support to SOEs in order to sustain them and ensure their self-sufficiency.

“As we do this work, we are clear that the state will retain ownership of all those stateowned enterprises that are strategic. This is so that these entities are able to perform the crucial economic and developmental

State will retain ownership of all state-owned enterprises