Brown: Most parastatal CEOs didn't get bonuses

Cape Town - Most chief executives of the key state-owned enterprises did not receive performance bonuses in the 2013/14 financial year with the exception of Eskom, Denel and Transnet...all three of which reported significant profits in that financial year, according to Public Enterprises Minister Lynn Brown.

Brown said in reply to a parliamentary question from Dr Pieter Groenewald, a Freedom Front Plus MP, that Transnet chief executive Brian Molefe  received a performance bonus of R2.9m, up from R1.2m the previous year.

Brown reported that this was considerably down on the performance bonus given to the Transnet chief executive in 2011/12 when it was R6.4m. No performance bonus was granted in 2010/11 while a R3.4m bonus was paid to the chief executive of Transnet in 2009/10.

No performance bonus to Alexkor

Groenewald asked which public entities’ chief executive officers received performance bonuses in 2010, 2011, 2012, 2013 and 2014; what was the bonus amount received and profit and loss of each individual entity in the year concerned.

Brown reported that no performance bonus had been paid to the chief executive of the state-owned diamond mining company Alexkor. However, she reported that there had been a R47.8m loss in 2013/14. In the previous year there was a R12.1m profit, although there was a R14m loss in 2011/12. In the two previous years profits of R84m and R36m, in 20/11 and 2009/10 were reported.

While Denel paid out a performance bonus of R1.7m in 2009/10 when the entity reported a loss of R248m, performance bonuses of similar amounts were paid out to the chief executive in 2010/11, 2011/12, 2012/13 and 2013/14 but the entity posted significant profits in all of those years. Brown reported these profits as being R111m in 2010/11, R41m in 2011/12, R71m in 2012/13 and R194m in 2013/14.

SA Express posted modest profit

While Eskom has reported profits throughout the five year period, it is seeking further state funding to keep the lights on. Nevertheless outgoing chief executive Brian Dames received a bonus of R1.9m in 2013/14.

Eskom’s website reported a net profit of R7.1bn for the year ended 31 March including the profits on its embedded derivatives of R2.1bn. This was up from R5.2bn the previous year – however, it was significantly lower than the R12.2bn reported in the six months that ended 30 September 2013.

No bonuses were paid out, according to Brown, to the South African Airways chief executive during the five year period. While the entity had a reported profit in 2009/10 of R184m and R649m in 2010/11, it slipped into the red in 2011/12 at R32m and in 2012/13  it reported a moderate loss of R1.2m. The results for 2013/14 were reported as not “finally approved” by Brown.

While the troubled SA Express paid a performance bonus to its chief executive in 2009/10 of R1.8m, it paid no bonuses thereafter. It posted rand losses of R186m, R313m and R138m in the 2010/11, 2011/12 and 2013/14 periods. Gone were the days of solid profits in the last four financial years – the last one being R81m in 2009/10. There was a modest profit of R650 462 in 2012/13.

Transnet had paid R3.4m in a performance bonus in 2009/10, but nothing in 2010/11. It jumped to R6.4m in 2011/12 but dropped to R1.2m in 2012/13 rising to R2.9m in 2013/14. Transnet reported that its profit was up 24.9% in the 2013/14 financial year to R5.2bn - up from R4.1bn the previous year.

Asked by Groenewald if she would make a statement on the bonuses, the minister replied that further information would be available in the annual reports of the entities.