Minister of Planning, Monitoring and Evaluation in the Presidency Maropene Ramokgopa and the Executive Mayor of the City of Johannesburg, Councillor Dada Morero, visited the JSE to explore further areas of collaboration between government and the JSE. Picture: supplied
The Minister in the Presidency for Planning, Monitoring and Evaluation, Maropene Ramokgopa, visited the JSE on Thursday seeking closer collaboration, particularly in light of the proposed centralised ownership model for state-owned enterprises (SOEs).
The Minister, accompanied on the visit by the Executive Mayor of the City of Johannesburg, Councillor Dada Morero, sought to explore further areas of collaboration between government and the JSE.
A spokesperson for the Minister, Litha Mpondwana, giving examples of potential areas of closer collaboration even though the JSE already cooperates closely with various government departments, said although it was early days yet, it was not inconceivable that some SOEs might be listed on the bourse through the new centralised ownership model.
Companies often list on the JSE to raise capital from private retail and institutional investors. Many SOEs are critically short of capital.
He said other areas of greater collaboration might possibly include increased development work, such as better education to make the buying of stocks easier, and in the provision of greater support by the JSE to further the development of small and medium enterprises.
The visit was also in line with the priorities of the government and the National Development Plan 2030 (NDP) goals of advancing public-private partnerships to accelerate action to meet the country’s development goals.
Ramokgopa’s Ministry is the de facto custodian of the NDP in the government and in the monitoring of the meeting of those goals, he said.
The JSE is part of the United Nations (UN) Global Compact Network South Africa, which has collaborated with the Department of Planning, Monitoring and Evaluation (DPME) as a business-led platform to drive action towards achieving the UN Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs).
The Minister’s visit included presentations and engagements on the markets and sustainability initiatives of the JSE.
The government’s proposed centralised ownership model is contained in the National State Enterprises Bill, which is being considered by the Public Enterprises Committee after being tabled in Parliament last year.
It aims to improve the performance and governance of SOEs by consolidating the state's shareholdings in these entities under a single holding company.
The bill includes several key provisions, including the formation of a State Asset Management holding company to house strategic SOEs and exercise coordinated shareholder oversight.
It proposes that the state be the sole shareholder of the holding company, which will consolidate the state’s shareholdings in state enterprises. The bill has proposed transparent and appropriate governance mechanisms, and it provides for the phased succession of national state enterprises to the holding company.
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