In February 2004, the Department of Public Enterprises (DPE) launched its first handbook on South Africa ‘s state owned enterprises that operate outside of the country’s borders.
Africa First – volume.1 ; outlines the activities of Eskom Enterprises, Transnet, Arivia.kom and Denel/Mechem. The booklet looks at operations of Eskom Enterprises in five of Africa ‘s regions. It also details activities of Transnet subsidiaries like South African Airways (SAA), Spoornet and Transtel.
In his presentation of the handbook to representatives of African governments and United Nations agencies, former Public Enterprises minister Jeff Radebe said that the department produced the handbook “to expose South Africans to what their state entities are up to beyond our borders, and to bring to their attention some of the practical steps the South African government is taking to ensure that the objectives of Nepad move from the podium of conferences to the homes of ordinary people right across our continent”.
Although in its four chapters the booklet lists the parastatals’ activities, the details are uneven. Not all the value sizes of the projects are given. There is also no discussion in the handbook about how the activities are funded. These details are crucial if the aim of accountability to South African citizens is to be met.
But more glaring is the silence about state-owned enterprises outside of DPE’s competence such as the South African Broadcasting Corporation (SABC), Petrosa, water boards and development finance institutions.
While Radebe spoke about instructions to parastatals “to conduct their business in Africa with probity and with irreproachable ethics”, the handbook does no assessment of parastatals’ business practices. The handbook has no figures of jobs created, no assessment of where “our parastatals” procure goods and services and nothing on their contribution to sustainable environmental policies. Although there is reference to codes of conduct, the handbook does not clarify how the activities of South Africa ‘s state-owned enterprises are to be monitored.