South African Airways - ANC cadre deployment
SAA and other failing SOE's were left out of the 2024 Budget Speech. Image: SANews

Home » Government bailouts of SOEs show ZERO return in 5 years

Government bailouts of SOEs show ZERO return in 5 years

Misplaced faith and billions in government bailouts of SOEs have shown zero return from taxpayers’ money, says AGSA.

South African Airways - ANC cadre deployment
SAA and other failing SOE's were left out of the 2024 Budget Speech. Image: SANews

Government bailouts of SOEs is a peculiarly South African phenomenon. Billions in taxpayers’ Rands is handed over to state-owned enterprises (SOEs) and most cannot even complete an on-time audit. Worse still, for many, no audit is better than a bad audit.

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According to a report from Business Tech, the Auditor General of South Africa (AGSA) said the number of public entities with clean audits in 2022/2023 had risen from 126 to 147. Which may make the situation sound better than it really is.

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GOVERNMENT BAILOUTS OF SOES

government bailouts of SOEs
There is condemnation of exemption of SOEs from disclosing irregular expenditure. Photo: SABC

Worryingly, the number of entities that have not completed audits in time has risen from 12 to 31. Recent government bailouts of SOEs include but are not limited to: South African Airways (SAA), Eskom, Denel and Alexkor, all of which still have their audits outstanding.

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Land Bank went from a clean audit to an unqualified one in the last year. As did the SABC. Unbelievably, the only SOE with a clean audit is the Development Bank of South Africa (DBSA). As a result, government bailouts of SOEs, their inability to pass clean audits and be accountable for the billions remains a critical problem for South Africa.

R230 BILLION SPENT, ZERO RETURN

government bailouts of SOEs
Eskom ranks number one for highest government bailout figure – R181 billion. Photo: Pixabay.com

Public Enterprise Minister Pravin Gordhan said R230 billion has been spent on government bailouts of SOEs since 2018. Eskom received the majority of the money, taking in R181 billion over five years. SAA took in R37 billion in bailouts.

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Let’s also not forget that Transnet is going to rocket up this list when the R47 billion approved by treasury comes into affect in 2024 for its turnaround plan. Below is a full list of government bailouts of SOEs in South Africa since 2018. That’s a lot of zeros …

RankSOE Bailouts (2018 to 2023)
1.EskomR181 600 000 000.00
2.SAA R37 136 000 000.00  
3.DenelR9 027 586 261.73
5.Transnet R5 837 000 000.00
TOTALR233 600 586 261.73 

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What do you think of this system of government bailouts of SOEs? A total waste of South African taxpayers’ money? Be sure to share your thoughts with our audience in the comments section below. And don’t forget to follow us @TheSANews on X and The South African on Facebook for the latest updates.