The Citizen reports that state-owned enterprises (SOEs) have sucked up almost R400 billion in bailouts in the past nine years alone, but despite their abysmal performance their CEOs have earned a combined average of R2 billion in salaries, bonuses and perks.
And the bailouts have got worse during President Cyril Ramaphosa’s term in office. About 700 SOEs have sucked up R398 billion in taxpayer money to be rescued from 2013/2014 with Eskom accounting for 55% of that amount. At the same time, executives and CEOs at these entities earned a combined total of R2 billion per year in salaries, according to the Democratic Alliance’s (DA) Shadow Minister of Public Enterprises Ghaleb Cachalia. DA research has shown that SEO bailouts increased significantly in the past six years during President Cyril Ramaphosa’s time in office from 2018/19 to 2023/24 compared to the previous 10 years from 2008/09 to 2017/18. Total bailouts from 2018/19 to 2023/24 during Ramaphosa’s tenure was R292.28 billion, which averaged R30.42 billion per year. “The salaries of top executives, such as those at Transnet, Prasa, Postbank and SABC reach astonishing figures, with compensation for CEOs at even higher amounts, regardless of dire performance and eye-watering losses posted by these entities and the absence in many instances of annual financial statements,” the research report indicated. Political analyst Prof Andre Duvenhage commented: “I can understand if you pay the CEO of Sasol, in a good year, a bonus of a few millions but I cannot understand when you can do the same with the CEO of Eskom or SAA when they are in trouble. In that case, it is extremely problematic.”
- Read the full original of the report in the above regard by Lunga Simelane at The Citizen
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