DA welcomes the alignment of SOEs to Departments

The DA welcomes President Ramaphosa’s decision to sign proclamations aligning state-owned enterprises (SOEs) with their respective departments. This move will better position SOEs within the appropriate departments based on their operations and expertise, improving oversight and accountability. The DA believes that this restructuring is crucial, especially given the significant deterioration of our SOEs, as it will allow for the focused, individualised attention needed to achieve meaningful reform.

As the Department of Public Enterprises is done away with, future attempts to centralise SOEs will not only be cumbersome but very irresponsible. Centralisation of SOEs laid the groundwork for State Capture and has since emptied our fiscus. The Executive’s plan to move the National State Enterprise Bill through Parliament (and recentralise SOEs) is therefore senseless.

The DA will continue to oppose the National State Enterprise Bill and work to ensure meaningful reform to our SOEs, including rationalisation, partial or complete privatisation. Bad governance and maladministration must remain in the past, and this Parliament must ensure practical governance, economic growth and job-creation.