IN QUOTES | Pravin Gordhan on SOEs: 'Corrupt elements must be jailed'

Public enterprises minister Pravin Gordhan on Wednesday night addressed parliament's joint committee on the state of government-owned entities.

He was joined by Eskom CEO Andre de Ruyter, who also responded to questions from MPs. 

Here are six critical points from Gordhan: 

Mining at level 4

“At level 4, mining is not on full scale. There is a ramping up that takes place but also importantly, there are health measures that need to be taken in order for workers to return to work. Those measures must be taken by the companies concerned.”

Corruption in SOEs

“It is time there are some severe consequences for people involved in corruption in any one of the entities and who need to find themselves behind jail for corruption at a municipal level. We will welcome those measures.”

Business rescue practitioners too expensive

“We have called on BRPs themselves, which would include some accounting firms to actually reduce their fees by anything up to 40% so that they contribute, like the staff would be contributing, to a proper outcome of this process.”

Denel

“Denel's financial standing is stable, but not one that is ideal. They need to get to a point where they start producing more commodities that they can sell, so they can generate income.”

SAA not being privatised

“We are not privatising SAA. My political party has been clear on that. We will entertain strategic equity partners.”

Trade unions

“Trade unions fully participated in the design process by sharing their thoughts and experiences on various aspects, from routes to what maintenance organisations should or shouldn't be doing. We want a more consensual approach on the understanding that not every employee will be re-employed in the new airline.”