Hon Speaker, the issue of the remuneration packages and bonuses does not fall within the realm of the question that I was asked, but let me respond to the question of the profits and dividends. First and foremost, the government has not been claiming the dividends from state-owned companies, which are from the revenue generated from their operations.
Furthermore, the issue, hon Koornhof, is that the question hon Turok asked was long and comprehensive. It required an extensive response and, as you will have noticed, my time lapsed before I could respond to everything that was asked.
Therefore, let me say, notwithstanding that, that in conducting their businesses, Eskom, Transnet, Transnet National Ports Authority and Transnet Pipelines do generate surpluses, for which there are provisions by the relevant regulators, in line with the applicable policies and Acts. These provisions require the regulators to allow for full cost recovery for activities, plus a predetermined margin of return.
In practice the state-owned companies are focused on generating only sufficient retained earnings to pay for their ambitious bill programmes without overburdening the industry and consumers. For example, Eskom chose to apply for a 16% tariff increase for the year 2012-13, despite having a regulatory right to a 25% increase, so as to mediate the economic pressures created by the continued global financial crisis. No dividends are declared by any of the state-owned companies in the Department of Public Enterprises portfolio, as all retained earnings are reinvested in the bill programme.
As I indicated earlier, to date the fiscus has not supported state-owned companies except through government guarantees which allow the state-owned companies to raise capital in the financial markets, which they need to pay back anyway. So, there is no equity injection ... [Time expired.]