The South African government has put R282.5 billion into various State Owned Enterprises as “capital investments” since 2019, but has seen just R1 million back in dividends.The minister started off by saying that all of South Africa’s SOE’s were adversely impacted by the effects of state capture, and emphasised that since the sixth administration took over, “no bailouts were provided to SOEs, but rather capital invested to put them on a path of sustainability.
While it could be argued that the money pumped into these companies is to ensure they fulfil their respective mandates and not to make a profit and pay dividends—the well-documents and widely reported power , logistics and defence crises show that these companies are still far off from even that. “The National Treasury recognises that debt relief alone will not return the utility to financial sustainability,” said Gordhan, adding that without tariff increases, the debt-relief arrangement is not sustainable.