Ramaphosa defends private sector involvement in rebuilding SA's logistics
Ramaphosa said there's no doubt the operations of the country's ports and rail network decline was impacted by State capture and the lack of investment in infrastructure.
President Cyril Ramaphosa replies to oral questions in the National Assembly for the first time in the seventh parliament. Picture: Presidency
CAPE TOWN - President Cyril Ramaphosa has defended private sector involvement in getting the logistics sector back on track.
He said this does not mean government plans to privatise these assets.
Answering questions in parliament on Thursday, Ramaphosa said government has to be honest that it doesn’t have the resources to upgrade the archaic equipment in the ports and to fix the rail network.
Ramaphosa said there's no doubt the operations of the country's ports and rail network decline was impacted by State capture and the lack of investment in infrastructure.
He said the private sector is where the money is, and taxpayers can't continue to shoulder the burden of poor performing state-owned enterprises (SOEs).
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"Where we can cooperate with the private sector, and where they can put their money into a State asset, they should do so," the president said.
However, the Economic Freedom Fighters (EFF)'s Omphile Maotwe believes citizens are being misled by these private partnerships, despite assurances that State assets won’t be sold off.
"For us, it's either do the reform or you die. And if we don't reform, it basically means we are imposing a death sentence on our own economy," said Ramaphosa.
Ramaphosa said the continent looks to South Africa to enhance its own economies through our ports and rail network.