Chairperson, I guess today you will be a bit generous with time because the Kings played very well over the past weekend. [Interjections.]
Ndivumele Sihlalo ndijoyine amaLunga ePalamente avakalisa amazwi ovelwano kusapho lwakaMaluleka ngokusweleka nokushiywa ngumtakwabo. Siyi-Cope sithi mabalale ngenxeba. [Chairperson, allow me to join the Members of Parliament who are voicing their condolences to the family of Mr Maluleka, who lost his brother. Cope hopes that they may be consoled.] [Interjections.]
Some four years ago, when Cope was elected into Parliament, we undertook to be a patriotic opposition. We chose to be critical of the ruling party and government when they faltered, as they would from time to time. However, in the same breath, as a responsible party we also chose to give credit as and when it is due and to offer ideas and advice.
I am rising to commend Mr Tshediso Matona, the Director-General of the Department of Public Enterprises, on the sterling job he has done and continues to do. [Applause.] The applause is quite strange, isn't it? [Interjections.] This humble gentleman has always inspired confidence in us and a sense of optimism in a sea of pessimism. He continues to be a shining example and an embodiment of how a true public servant should conduct himself or herself. [Applause.] Sir, keep up the good work. Our country needs more men like you. [Interjections.]
However, Minister, I am sure you will agree with me that efforts such as those of Mr Matona are set to go down in the annals of history as a nonevent if the state-owned enterprises around him do not get their act together. If I were to be asked, Minister, where to start fixing the mess, I would advise you to start by elevating the status of the department from a privatisation desk to an essential component of our economic development. [Interjections.] Give them sweeping powers to interfere and intervene whenever they deem fit. Secondly, you should lobby in Cabinet for them to get a decent budget. The budget that the director-general presented to us the other day simply does not talk to the mammoth task that his department is facing.
We welcome the department's commitment in implementing the remuneration standards for the boards and executives of state-owned entities. This will not only bring uniformity to salary packages of board members and senior executives, but will also help trim the exorbitant salaries and bonuses that are paid to executives and board members. It continues to boggle my mind that some of the CEOs earn far more than the President and the poor Members of Parliament who are gathered here today. [Interjections.] [Laughter.]
During our interactions with the department, we discovered ... [Interjections.] [Laughter.] ... that some of our SOE board members serve in over 20 other boards elsewhere in the country. It does not require a rocket scientist to figure out that such persons cannot possibly be in a position to perform their duties optimally. In this regard, we welcome the review of the current board performance framework which, among other steps, will regulate the number of boards on which an individual can serve. A lot still needs to be done, though. The continued inability to adhere to clean governance and fiscal discipline will remain a challenge. There are reports that between Telkom, Eskom and Transnet about R27 million has been spent on sponsoring the New Age newspaper and Morning Live Breakfast Show. In our view, there is nothing wrong with any business asking for sponsorship from an SOE. If Transnet and SAA - rightly so, Mr Group Chief Executive Officer of Transnet - this year decided not to participate in the Cape Town Jazz Festival for financial reasons and the realisation that you do not get value for your money, then it stands to reason that the same determination has to be made regarding whether we get value for the millions paid to the New Age newspaper.