Parliament - Higher salary packages in the private sector are
putting pressure on state-owned enterprises, Public Enterprises Minister
Malusi Gigaba said on Tuesday.
Gigaba told reporters before his budget speech in
Parliament that the government wanted its companies to be globally
competitive and for that it needed highly skilled staff.
"The remuneration packages of the private sector are dragging remuneration packages upwards..." he said.
"We want SOEs (State Owned Enterprises) to be efficient
and productive and to be competitive with the best in the private
sector. To do that we need competent managers and executives.
"The issue of remuneration is of great concern to us."
Gigaba said his department hoped to conclude a remuneration model this year.
"We are now in the process of drafting the model itself," he said. "We hope to conclude this year."
The department was consulting with the Presidential Review Committee on the matter, he said.
"We have eight SOEs in our portfolio. We can't finish
the remuneration model for eight SOEs and then come to the presidential
review committee and propose a different model."
Gigaba said any new chief executive was being appointed on the same salary scale of a chief executive who resigned.
The new chief executive of weapons company Denel and internet company Infraco were examples.
The chief executives at mining company Alexcor and
forestry company Safcol would be appointed at the last salary scale of
their outgoing CEOs, he said.
That, he said, was being made very explicit during the recruitment process.