South Africa's State owned enterprises: From state capture to governance reform

SOUTH AFRICA’S STATE OWNED ENTERPRISES: FROM STATE CAPTURE TO GOVERNANCE REFORM

Professor Mark Swilling, Centre for Sustainability Transitions, Stellenbosch University

Monday 27 January  1.00 pm  COURSE FEES R110; Staff and students R55

South Africa’s State Owned Enterprises (SOEs) were the core focus of the Zuma-centred power elite that coordinated the state capture strategies from 2009 to 2018. During these so-called ‘nine wasted years’ theSOEs were effectively looted and have still not fully recovered. Since Cyril Ramaphosa became President, the focus has been on fixing the SOEs, resulting in the post-2024 election decision to abolish the Ministry of Public Enterprises and to transfer responsibility for the governance of SOEs to the Presidency. The next step is the setting up of a holding company that will become the shareholder of SOEs, thus creating an arms-length relationship between SOEs and politicians. The question this lecture will address is as follows: Why has the post-1994 South African government lacked a developmental vision for the role of SOEs? And therefore, what is the future of the SOEs?

Recommended reading

Callaghan, N., Foley, R. and Swilling, M. (eds.) 2021. Anatomy of State Capture. Stellenbosch: Sun Media. (Available free online)

Swilling, M., Callaghan, N. and McCallum, W. 2023. Political settlements and the rebuilding of South Africa’s state-owned enterprises. In Mohamed, S. et al. 2023. The evolving structure of the South Africa’s economy: fault lines and futures. Johannesburg: Mapungubwe Institute for Strategic Reflection (MISTRA).

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