Act swiftly to improve failing SOEs, ANC asks govt
'We [ANC] cannot afford to be fugitives on accountability,' acting spokesperson Dakota Legoete said, adding 'the ANC needed to hire the right people for the right jobs'.
Ace Magashule outside the Joburg Council after the vote for Joburg mayor was postponed, 28 November 2019. Picture: Michel Bega
The ANC wants the government to take swift action to improve the condition of state-owned entities and address rolling blackouts that have hit the country as Eskom struggles with capacity.
The party held a media briefing at its headquarters on Wednesday to announce the outcomes from its last national executive committee (NEC) meeting of the year.
Its secretary-general, Ace Magashule, said the ANC wanted a comprehensive approach to all state-owned entities (SOEs), along with bold and creative solutions.
“Firm action is required to improve the governance and performance of SOEs by ensuring that there’s skilled staff, qualified board members and protecting public institutions from improper interference.”
He said the NEC was concerned the current state of the SOEs made it difficult for them to play their role in the economy and in the country’s developmental goals.
South Africa has been experiencing rolling blackouts, with the power utility implementing schedule 6 load shedding for the first time this week. The continuous rain and capacity were cited as some of the issues to blame following Eskom’s previous announcement there would be no load shedding in the country.
NEC member and acting spokesperson Dakota Legoete told journalists the ANC had told the government to act swiftly on the matter.
“It’s very important that we are the governing party, we cannot afford to be fugitives on accountability,” said Legoete.
He said the ANC had promised the country there would be no more load shedding, yet the issue continued to happen.
“Now it’s gotten to a point where mines are closing, people are starting to lose jobs, [it is] negative for our economy, negative on our livelihood and very painful for ordinary South Africans.”
Legoete said the ANC needed to hire the right people for the right jobs, which was a view in line with the party’s 2017 national elective conference and its election manifesto ahead of the May 2019 elections.
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