By Lehlohonolo Lehana.
President Cyril Ramaphosa has assigned shareholder responsibility for each of the State-Owned Enterprises (SOEs) that previously fell under the Department of Public Enterprises to the respective line-function Ministries.
Ramaphosa has signed proclamations in terms of Section 97 of the Constitution of the Republic of South Africa of 1996, which transfer the administration, powers and functions entrusted by the specified legislation as outlined below.
Alexkor has been assigned to the Minister of Mineral and Petroleum Resources; Denel to the Minister of Defence and Military Veterans; Eskom to the Minister of Electricity and Energy; the South African Forestry Company to the Minister of Forestry, Fisheries and the Environment; and South African Airways, South African Express and Transnet to the Minister of Transport.
In addition, certain sections of the Overvaal Resorts Limited Act of 1993 and Overvaal Resorts Limited Act Repeal Act of 2019 are vested with the Minister of Water and Sanitation.
Ramaphosa has signed a proclamation appointing the Minister in the Presidency responsible for Planning, Monitoring and Evaluation as the executive authority of the DPE, which will continue to exist and operate until the human and financial resources are transferred appropriately.
This appointment empowers the Minister to exercise power with respect to DPE all relevant powers and functions under the Public Service Act of 1994 and the Public Finance Management Act of 1999.
The Minister in the Presidency responsible for Planning, Monitoring and Evaluation has also been assigned the responsibility to finalise the National State Enterprise Bill, which will set out the exercise of shareholder responsibility for respective SOEs, which will be transferred in a phased manner into the envisaged national enterprise holding company.
The National State Enterprise Bill aims to:
- Enable the development of a ‘national strategy’ for state-owned enterprises.
- Establish the State Asset Management SOC Limited (SAMSOC), with the state as its sole shareholder.
- Consolidate the state’s shareholdings in “strategic” SOEs through a centralised shareholder model;
- Phase in these enterprises as subsidiaries of SAMSOC over time.
Both the Presidential Review Committee on SOEs and the National Planning Commission have endorsed the creation of a comprehensive long-term strategy for SOEs, consolidating their mandates, supervision, and operations under a unified law.
The bill specifies that the strategy must encompass performance targets, sectoral and specific objectives, developmental obligations, matters related to financial turnaround, and provisions to facilitate private-sector investment.