The report states that implementing a series of policy actions can achieve a robust economic recovery in South Africa in the immediate future.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
It advised policy actions in infrastructure services, greater private sector participation, creating cities as engines of growth, and efficient public spending.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cThis recovery has the potential to create the millions of jobs that South Africans need to improve their lives, exit poverty, and contribute to the economy,\u201d it said.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
The new World Bank report states South Africa has a unique opportunity to revitalise its economy.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cThe country\u2019s policymakers recognise that improving the economy is essential for winning public trust,\u201d it said.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
The World Bank\u2019s new study provides in-depth analysis and practical recommendations to assist South African policymakers.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
It includes addressing obstacles to inclusive growth and, most importantly, taking action to pave the way for a brighter future for all citizens.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cThe report provides a clear roadmap for South Africa to unlock its economic potential,\u201d said Satu Kahkonen, the World Bank\u2019s country director for South Africa.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Godongwana added that South Africa has clear evidence of the tangible outcomes of reforms that reduce economic bottlenecks.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
The Finance Minister said the best example is the first phase of the successful Operation Vulindlela.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
A key intervention was reforms to regulation that deepened competition in sectors like electricity, rail, and telecommunications.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cThe next phase will go even further and aim to accelerate reforms in key network industries,\u201d Godongwana said.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cWe are delighted to have the benefit of this new report to broaden our approach to inclusive growth.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Wasting money on bailing out state-owned enterprises<\/strong><\/h2>\n\n\n\n![\"\"](\"https:\/\/businesstech.co.za\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/02\/Godongwana-Budget-4-1024x576.jpg\")
<\/a>Finance Minister Enoch Godongwana <\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\nDuring his speech, Godongwana said that over the last fifteen years, the government spent R520 billion to bail out struggling state-owned enterprises and institutions.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
This funding was made available without significantly raising taxes, which means the money was taken from other areas.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
He said the money to bail out state-owned enterprises was raised by cutting expenditures in other areas, which hurt the country.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Most state-owned enterprises that received bailouts are in a worse state than ever before, showing that the bailouts did not produce positive results.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
These include Denel, the South African Post Office, South African Airways, Transnet, and the South African Broadcasting Corporation.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
As a result, Godongwana vowed to keep showing tough love toward towards these companies, rebuffing calls for a bailout of Transnet.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cMy stance on tough love for state-owned enterprises remains,\u201d he told Bloomberg in an interview on 29 January 2025.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
He said political parties can suggest how the government and the National Treasury must attend to Transnet’s challenges.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cHow we attend to those challenges is a matter of detail, which, if we do, I cannot talk about at the moment,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
He gave a glimpse into his stance on bailouts in his now-defunct 2025 Budget Speech, which he did not deliver.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
He significantly cut Eskom\u2019s debt relief. \u201cThe final R70 billion debt takeover will be replaced with R40 billion in 2025\/26 and R10 billion in 2028\/29,\u201d the speech said.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
He added that should Transnet require gap funding for its projects, the Budget Facility for Infrastructure (BFI) will only consider these after proper packaging and financial structuring.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
There was no mention of bailouts of the South African Post Office, Denel, or the South African Broadcasting Corporation.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
These institutions have begged for money to stay afloat. However, the Finance Minister\u2019s tough love is showing in his budget speech.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
The government blew R331 billion on SOE bailouts in ten years<\/strong><\/h2>\n\n\n\n![\"\"](\"https:\/\/businesstech.co.za\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/03\/1.jpg\")
<\/a><\/figure>\n\n\n\nBetween 2014 and 2023, the South African government has spent R331 billion on bailouts for state-owned enterprises.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
This data was revealed in a presentation to the Standing Committee on Public Accounts on state-owned company (SOC) bailouts and government guarantees in May 2023.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
The presentation revealed that the government had spent R331 billion in bailouts of Eskom, SAA, Sanral, Sasria, the Land Bank, the SAPO, and Denel.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
These bailouts, called recapitalisations, were granted to implement turnaround plans, repay debt and government guarantees, improve liquidity, and for capital expenditure.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
The bailouts increased from R2.9 billion in 2014 to R65 billion in 2023, illustrating the deteriorating state of these organisations.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
The table below shows state-owned company bailouts between 2013 and 2023.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
Finance Minister Enoch Godongwana said the government spent R520 billion to bail out state-owned enterprises, and the money was taken from important sectors.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":10,"featured_media":788637,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[11121],"tags":[9314,1164,21799,667,5255,2138],"class_list":["post-814839","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-finance","tag-denel","tag-eskom","tag-finance-minister-enoch-godongwana","tag-sabc","tag-state-owned-enterprises","tag-transnet"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/businesstech.co.za\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/814839","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/businesstech.co.za\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/businesstech.co.za\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/businesstech.co.za\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/10"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/businesstech.co.za\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=814839"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/businesstech.co.za\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/814839\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":814841,"href":"https:\/\/businesstech.co.za\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/814839\/revisions\/814841"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/businesstech.co.za\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/788637"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/businesstech.co.za\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=814839"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/businesstech.co.za\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=814839"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/businesstech.co.za\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=814839"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}
<\/a>During his speech, Godongwana said that over the last fifteen years, the government spent R520 billion to bail out struggling state-owned enterprises and institutions.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
This funding was made available without significantly raising taxes, which means the money was taken from other areas.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
He said the money to bail out state-owned enterprises was raised by cutting expenditures in other areas, which hurt the country.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Most state-owned enterprises that received bailouts are in a worse state than ever before, showing that the bailouts did not produce positive results.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
These include Denel, the South African Post Office, South African Airways, Transnet, and the South African Broadcasting Corporation.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
As a result, Godongwana vowed to keep showing tough love toward towards these companies, rebuffing calls for a bailout of Transnet.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cMy stance on tough love for state-owned enterprises remains,\u201d he told Bloomberg in an interview on 29 January 2025.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
He said political parties can suggest how the government and the National Treasury must attend to Transnet’s challenges.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cHow we attend to those challenges is a matter of detail, which, if we do, I cannot talk about at the moment,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
He gave a glimpse into his stance on bailouts in his now-defunct 2025 Budget Speech, which he did not deliver.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
He significantly cut Eskom\u2019s debt relief. \u201cThe final R70 billion debt takeover will be replaced with R40 billion in 2025\/26 and R10 billion in 2028\/29,\u201d the speech said.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
He added that should Transnet require gap funding for its projects, the Budget Facility for Infrastructure (BFI) will only consider these after proper packaging and financial structuring.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
There was no mention of bailouts of the South African Post Office, Denel, or the South African Broadcasting Corporation.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
These institutions have begged for money to stay afloat. However, the Finance Minister\u2019s tough love is showing in his budget speech.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
The government blew R331 billion on SOE bailouts in ten years<\/strong><\/h2>\n\n\n\n<\/a><\/figure>\n\n\n\nBetween 2014 and 2023, the South African government has spent R331 billion on bailouts for state-owned enterprises.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
This data was revealed in a presentation to the Standing Committee on Public Accounts on state-owned company (SOC) bailouts and government guarantees in May 2023.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
The presentation revealed that the government had spent R331 billion in bailouts of Eskom, SAA, Sanral, Sasria, the Land Bank, the SAPO, and Denel.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
These bailouts, called recapitalisations, were granted to implement turnaround plans, repay debt and government guarantees, improve liquidity, and for capital expenditure.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
The bailouts increased from R2.9 billion in 2014 to R65 billion in 2023, illustrating the deteriorating state of these organisations.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
The table below shows state-owned company bailouts between 2013 and 2023.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
Finance Minister Enoch Godongwana said the government spent R520 billion to bail out state-owned enterprises, and the money was taken from important sectors.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":10,"featured_media":788637,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[11121],"tags":[9314,1164,21799,667,5255,2138],"class_list":["post-814839","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-finance","tag-denel","tag-eskom","tag-finance-minister-enoch-godongwana","tag-sabc","tag-state-owned-enterprises","tag-transnet"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/businesstech.co.za\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/814839","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/businesstech.co.za\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/businesstech.co.za\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/businesstech.co.za\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/10"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/businesstech.co.za\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=814839"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/businesstech.co.za\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/814839\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":814841,"href":"https:\/\/businesstech.co.za\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/814839\/revisions\/814841"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/businesstech.co.za\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/788637"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/businesstech.co.za\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=814839"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/businesstech.co.za\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=814839"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/businesstech.co.za\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=814839"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}
<\/a><\/figure>\n\n\n\nBetween 2014 and 2023, the South African government has spent R331 billion on bailouts for state-owned enterprises.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
This data was revealed in a presentation to the Standing Committee on Public Accounts on state-owned company (SOC) bailouts and government guarantees in May 2023.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
The presentation revealed that the government had spent R331 billion in bailouts of Eskom, SAA, Sanral, Sasria, the Land Bank, the SAPO, and Denel.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
These bailouts, called recapitalisations, were granted to implement turnaround plans, repay debt and government guarantees, improve liquidity, and for capital expenditure.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
The bailouts increased from R2.9 billion in 2014 to R65 billion in 2023, illustrating the deteriorating state of these organisations.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
The table below shows state-owned company bailouts between 2013 and 2023.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
Finance Minister Enoch Godongwana said the government spent R520 billion to bail out state-owned enterprises, and the money was taken from important sectors.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":10,"featured_media":788637,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[11121],"tags":[9314,1164,21799,667,5255,2138],"class_list":["post-814839","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-finance","tag-denel","tag-eskom","tag-finance-minister-enoch-godongwana","tag-sabc","tag-state-owned-enterprises","tag-transnet"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/businesstech.co.za\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/814839","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/businesstech.co.za\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/businesstech.co.za\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/businesstech.co.za\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/10"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/businesstech.co.za\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=814839"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/businesstech.co.za\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/814839\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":814841,"href":"https:\/\/businesstech.co.za\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/814839\/revisions\/814841"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/businesstech.co.za\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/788637"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/businesstech.co.za\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=814839"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/businesstech.co.za\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=814839"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/businesstech.co.za\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=814839"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}