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Finance Minister Tito Mboweni says once the 2019 Appropriations Bill is passed, government will be in a position to make allocations to support state-owned enterprises like the SABC, Denel and SAA.
Mboweni was speaking during a National Assembly debate on the bill on Tuesday. The 2019 appropriations is being considered by the National Assembly. If it is passed it will be referred to the National Council of Provinces for consideration. However, some MPs have slammed the bill for not including major amendments and simply being a bail out for Eskom.
"Once this bill is passed, we will be in a position to use the contingency reserve account to provide support to the SABC, to Denel and SAA," Mboweni said. The finance minister first mentioned that the entities will get additional financial support during the National Treasury Budget Vote held earlier in July.
However he stressed financial support will not be made freely available as conditions will be attached to them. The SABC for example has requested R3.2bn from Treasury. "We will not just make that available tomorrow, we will release it in chunks as certain conditions are met to make sure there is progress in improving the organisation," Mboweni said.
The minister added that chief restructuring officers for several entities will be announced in due course and government will work with management to make sure the entities get "back on track".
Mboweni's remarks come a day after Denel, which is facing liquidity challenges, issued a statement indicating that it did not have the resources to pay July salaries on time. CEO Danie du Toit told staff that the state arms manufacturer is engaging with banks to secure "bridging finance" to support the company, Fin24 previously reported.
