DEPARTMENT: PUBLIC ENTERPRISES
REPUBLIC OF SOUTH AFRICA
NATIONAL ASSEMBLY
QUESTION FOR WRITTEN REPLY
QUESTION NO.: 211
DATE OF PUBLICATION: 11 May 2012
211. Mr H B Groenewald (DA-NW) to ask the Minister of Public Enterprises:
(1) Whether, with regard to underperforming state-owned enterprises, his
department has identified any measures to improve the balance sheets of
these companies; if not, why not; if so, (a) what measures and (b) when
will they be implemented;
(2) Whether a turnaround strategy has been developed for a certain company
(name furnished); if not, why not; if so, what are the relevant details;
What investment has been made to use the (a) historical skills and (b)
expertise found within the said company for future job creation? CW308E
Reply:
|(1)(a) The Department is working with National Treasury to identify |
|instruments that can be implemented in order to support the balance |
|sheets of the challenged State Owned Companies (SOC). |
| |
|(b) Implementation will only be possible upon Cabinetâs approval of |
|any proposed support. |
(2) Denelâs turn-around strategy was launched in 2006 in response to
developments within the global economy.
The key pillars of the strategy were as follows:
⢠Focus on growing commercially viable businesses, raise capabilities
and productivity to world class standards;
⢠Secure privileged access to a minimum portion of South Africaâs
defence spend;
⢠Partner with state agencies to build greater collaboration and
cooperation across Government; and
⢠Develop partnerships/alliance ventures with true value add.
In 2008, the above pillars were refined to ensure a greater emphasis on
market growth and operational performance.
In March 2012, Denelâs strategy was revised in order to continuously
improve, drive higher margins and ensure that a dynamic, innovative and
entrepreneurial culture is created.
Denel spent a total of R49m on various skills development programmes during
this past financial year. These programmes are aimed at ensuring Denelâs
competitiveness and sustainability as well as facilitating transformation
efforts. The referred company operates in the high technology skills
environment where skills are scarce and competition for such skills is
intense. Therefore, for the referred company, business success and
sustainability depends on skills development.
(b) Denel has a strong formal mentoring programme to ensure that skills are
formally passed on to the younger generation to ensure continuity of
skills. Mature employees are encouraged to develop and deliver specific
courses relevant to their areas of expertise.
Whilst Denel is not currently growing in terms of employment, aggressive
skills development training is ensuring that the company is able to deliver
to customers and build the skills pipeline over and above its own needs.