SOEs in shambles, the high cost of mismanagement

Emergency. Rescue. Save. Reconstruction. Rehabilitation. Those are terms you’re likely to find used in connection with natural disasters such as floods, fires and earthquakes.

In SA, they’re more commonly associated with government departments and state-owned enterprises (SOEs), most of which have been wrecked by the human-made disaster known as the ANC.

Particularly with SOEs, a huge amount of taxpayer money is being poured into these devastated businesses – but the tragedy is made all the more painful by the fact that these enterprises were not brought to their knees by anything other than looting and incompetence.

That pain is doubled by the realisation that these are the entities which should have been the engines which could have driven this country to prosperity and to a place where there truly would be a “better life for all”.

In having to resurrect most of these collapsing companies, the country is, effectively, having to reset the clock – back two decades or more – and start from the beginning.

Transnet in deep trouble

The latest SOE which is in deep trouble and is being subjected to the disaster recovery metaphors is transport and logistics giant Transnet.

Its collapse has been most visible through the physical degeneration of rail infrastructure and the massive backlogs of ships at its inefficient ports.

A precipitous decline in the efficiency on the freight rail system has meant mines having to curtail their exports which has, in turn, led to losses of jobs as well as foreign exchange and tax income for the state. Some exporters are bypassing our ports entirely and exporting via Mozambique.

Like Eskom, Transnet has been milked by the comrades and dragged down by the ANC’s cadre deployments.

Eskom is, they say, on the way back – but load shedding has been with us for 15 years. How much longer will it take to get Transnet back on track?

ALSO READ: Transnet’s derailed dreams: Can the railway network recover?