Analysis: Why battle-scarred Denel has sunk into cashless black hole

An order for 1‚000 missiles worth more than R1-billion from Denel was ditched earlier this year because it didn’t have money to set up a production line or provide a bank guarantee‚ said defence analyst Helmoed Heitman.

On Monday Public Enterprises Minister Pravin Gordhan announced a new board for the entity‚ which is R3.7-billion in debt. Former Airports Company SA CEO Monhla Hlahla is the new board chairperson at Denel and Gordhan said the move was to ensure that good governance was restored and that the role the SOE played in state capture was reversed.

Denel subsidiary‚ ammunitions manufacturer Denel PMP‚ told staff in December it could not pay salaries‚ but the Treasury stepped in to provide R580-million so suppliers could be paid.

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