Only people who are owed money by Transnet are calling for bailouts - Godongwana

CAPE TOWN - Finance Minister Enoch Godongwana says the only people calling for another Transnet bailout are those owed money by the entity.

But the minister says they’re actively engaging the state-owned logistics giant so it can be able to sustain itself.

Godongwana was addressing the media on Wednesday before tabling his budget, which also offered no new bailout funding to other struggling SOEs like SAA and Denel.

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The finance minister was asked on Wednesday whether he was negotiating in his budget and whether he would take calls after not giving any bailouts to SOEs like Transnet.

But Godongwana said the only people invested in Transnet receiving a bailout were those owed money.

"I know that there are people saying Transnet needs a cash injection because they want to be paid, that's the people who are making all of this noise."

He said that Transnet must be able to sustain itself.

"We are engaging with Transnet to do the right thing so that they are able to sustain themselves and service their debt. That's where we are at the moment."

The budget also saw no bailouts for other struggling SOEs, which the Treasury said had been drowning out service delivery.