State entities that cost money, don’t create jobs must go – Cosatu

The privatisation of some state-owned enterprises (SOE), if made for the greater good of the economy, would not be a contradiction to the political ideals of the Congress of South African Trade Unions (Cosatu).

This was the view of political analyst Lungani Mthethwa yesterday, as he agreed with Cosatu’s call for a probe into some of the country’s faltering SOEs.

Mthethwa said the state had a number of unused and unproductive assets and should consider selling those.

Cosatu’s apparent contradiction of its political ideals in their call for privatisation of some SOEs that have failed to meet their mandate could save the state a lot of money.

“If they were calling for the sale of entities which provided employment then [Cosatu] would be contradicting itself.

“From the gist of their unclear call for privatisation of entities … by not developing society, then they are not contradicting themselves, because the call is made for the benefit of society.”

He said the selling of entities with no productivity would provide economic stability if the money was invested in businesses that would provide jobs.

Cosatu had previously rebelled against the privatisation of key SOEs.

However, they have called for probes into all SOEs and proposed selling off dead weight.

Cosatu general secretary Bheki Ntshalintshali said the state owned about 700 entities and some had failed to fulfil their mandates.

However, he said privatisation of key state entities such as Eskom and SAA should not be subjected to an investigation it believes should be started.

“The state owns some entities they are not even aware of, but money is being pumped into them.

“We are calling for a probe into all the states entities so they can be evaluated [to find out] if they still serve their purpose.

“The state owns buildings they are not aware of, buildings which are not used and yet they are budgeted for. In such cases those entities should be sold,” Ntshalintshali said.

Speaking at Cosatu’s central executive committee media briefing in Johannesburg yesterday, he said entities costing money that were not creating jobs nor developing society deserved to be let go.

The congress called for the establishment of new SOEs that would remain relevant to the progressive economic times such as renewable energy.

In the same breath they expressed their dissatisfaction of looting in existing SOEs and believed it was important to learn from the past in building a prosperous economy.

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