Former Statistician-General of South Africa, Pali Lehohla, warned that the country is heading for disaster and that there is no end in sight.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Lehohla made this comment during a discussion on SABC News<\/a> about government bailouts to struggling state-owned enterprises (SOEs).<\/p>\n\n\n\n Transnet is the latest state-owned enterprise to ask the government for support to implement its turnaround plan.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Transnet said its board would discuss the plan to address its estimated R130 billion in debt with the Public Enterprises and Finance Ministries.<\/p>\n\n\n\n It followed the government\u2019s decision to take over R254 billion of Eskom\u2019s R423 billion debt, which include R168 billion in capital and R86 billion in interest.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Lehohla said providing SOEs with bailouts is not the solution to address the problems they experience.<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cThere is something far more fundamental that must happen at the SOEs than just throwing money at them,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cAt the current rate and with the current architecture of conception of the state-owned enterprises, there is something fundamentally wrong.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n He said many politicians like the word \u2018state-owned enterprises\u2019, but what it takes to run these institutions is a far cry from what is happening.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Lehohla said that compared to countries that have properly run SOEs and national development programmes, South Africa\u2019s \u201cis a joke\u201d.<\/p>\n\n\n\n He added that South Africa has very weak leaders. \u201cWe have people in positions of leadership, but it is a misnomer to call them leaders,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n\n\n\n The government has leftist policies but often reverts to right-leaning economic decisions, which creates a mess.<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cThe leadership is bankrupt intellectually as it relates to how economic policies should work together to create a desired outcome,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n\n\n\n He said the government\u2019s master plans, recovery and reconstruction plans, and development models are not technically competent.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Renowned economist Dawie Roodt said the reason for right-leaning economic events is that the government fails to effectively implement its left-leaning plans.<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cThe ANC government is left-leaning. It is a socialist government where people call each other comrades and refer to the state as a \u2018developmental state\u2019,\u201d Roodt said.<\/p>\n\n\n\n However, the government is too incompetent to implement its left-leaning policies or properly manage the institutions it controls.<\/p>\n\n\n\n The result is that the private sector steps in to resolve the problems created by the government, which is then seen as privatisation.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Roodt said Eskom is a good example, where the private sector started to create its own electricity because of Eskom\u2019s failure to provide reliable power.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Another is the South African Post Office, where private courier companies took over the task of delivering parcels in a timely manner.<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cIt is not official government policy to privatise anything, but in reality, the private sector is taking over the tasks of state-owned enterprises,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n\n\n\n He urged the government to accept that it is poor at running state-owned enterprises and enable a smooth transition to privatise these functions.<\/p>\n\n\n\n This article was first published by Daily Investor and reproduced with permission. Read the original here<\/strong><\/a>.<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n
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