State-owned enterprises play a significant role in the South African economy. In key sectors such as electricity, transport, and telecoms, SOEs play a lead role, often defined by law. However, limited competition is allowed in some sectors, such as telecoms and aviation. The government's interest in these sectors often competes with, and at times discourages, foreign investment.
The Department of Public Enterprises (DPE) is the shareholder representative of the South African Government,companies "State Owned Companies", Department of Public Enterprises, Republic of South Africa. Retrieved 2017-01-28. with oversight responsibility for state-owned enterprises in key sectors. Some companies are not directly controlled by the Department of Public Enterprises, but by various other departments. Further, not all state owned entities are registered as companies.
The Department of Public Enterprises minister has publicly stated that South Africa's SOEs should advance economic transformation, industrialization and import substitution. DPE has oversight responsibility in full or in part for seven of the approximately 700 SOEs that exist at the national, provincial, and local levels. These are Alexkor, Denel, Eskom, Transnet, South African Express, The South African Forestry Company, and the SABC.
These seven SOEs employ approximately 105,000 people. The state's share of the investment in them was 21%, while the private sector contributed 63%. Government spending made up the remaining 16%. The IMF estimates that the debt of the SOEs would add 13.5% to the overall national debt.
History Many state-owned firms were established during the apartheid era to counter the impact of international sanctions against the country. The ANC government initially sold stakes in the companies, and lowered import tariffs. Those measures were reversed following opposition from COSATU and the South African Communist Party. By 2007, an alliance of unions and leftist factions within the ANC had unseated President Thabo Mbeki, replacing him with Jacob Zuma. The new ANC policy aimed at expanding the role of SOEs in the economy, following the example of China.
Although in 2015 and 2016, senior government leaders discussed allowing private-sector investment into some of the more than 700 state-owned enterprises and recently released a report of a presidential review commission on SOE, which called for nationalization of SOEs, no concrete action has been taken on the topic yet.
Financial troubles and corruption By the end of the Zuma administration in 2018 corruption within South African state owned enterprises by individuals connected to government such as the controversial Gupta family had led to many enterprises facing deep financial difficulty. Deepening financial issues, mismanagement, maladministration and government bailouts of enterprises such as the South African Broadcasting Corporation, South African Airways, Eskom, Denel, PRASA, and Transnet caused increased public controversy.
By the end of the 2015–16 financial year, combined government guarantees on debts owed by state owned enterprises had reached R467 billion (equivalent to US$33.1 billion) and were expected to reach R500 billion by 2020 representing 10 percent of South Africa's GDP. The situation at Eskom was regarded as so serious as to lead the South African business newspaper Business Day to speculate that it could cause a national banking crisis.
In 2021, the South African Treasury reported that South African Airways had accumulated a total loss between 2008 and 2020 of R32 billion (US$ 2.1 billion) and received a total of R60 billion (US$ 4 billion) in government guarantees.
Table list The Public Finance Management Act distinguishes between three types of public entities. Schedule 1 entities compromise Constitutional Institutions including the Independent Electoral Commission and Public Protector among others. Schedule 2 entities are listed as Major Public Entities and have greater autonomy than Schedule 3 entities. Schedule 2 entities are listed below. Schedule 3 entities are subdivided into:
National Public Entities - which generally function as specialised agencies or not-for-profit organisations such as the Companies and Intellectual Property Commission, the Human Sciences Research Council and the Road Accident Fund; National Government Business Enterprises - which function as profit-seeking businesses including the Council for Scientific and Industrial Research, Passenger Rail Agency of South Africa and Rand Water; Provincial Public Entities - which have a provincial focus and function as provincial agencies such as the Gautrain Management Agency and various provincial gambling and liquor boards; Provincial Government Business Enterprises - which are profit-seeking businesses controlled by provincial government and includes the Richards Bay Industrial Development Zone and the East London Industrial Development Zone.
+List of South African Schedule 2 Major Public Entities. FY2019/2020 Data.NameIndustryNotesEmployeesRevenueProfit/(Loss)Ownership typeEstablishedAir Traffic and Navigation Services CompanyAir Traffic Control Manages air traffic and navigation within South Africa and part of the Southern Indian and Atlantic OceansR1.673bnR0.067bnFully state owned1993Airports Company South Africa (ACSA)Airport managementOwner and operator of major airports.3,110R2.86bnR0.23bn74.6% state owned1993AlexkorMiningDiamond mining.859R0.2bnR0.03bnFully state owned1992Armscor (South Africa)Arms procurementArms procurement agency for the SANDF.1,467R1.75bnR0.23bnFully state owned1968Broadband InfracoTelecommunicationsLong distance & international internet connectivity.166R0.41bn(R0.01bn)Fully state owned2007Central Energy FundResearch & DevelopmentEnergy development. Parent company of PetroSA.2,107R13.2bn(R0.45bn)Fully state owned1954DenelArms procurementArmaments manufacturer.3,968R3.76bn(R1.75bn)Fully state owned1992Development Bank of Southern AfricaBankingFunding for social and economic infrastructure.492R5.6bnR3.1bnFully state owned1983EskomPublic utilityElectrical production, transmission and distribution monopoly.46,665 R179.8bn(R20.7bn)Fully state owned1923Independent Development TrustSocial DevelopmentSupports education, housing, health services and business development projects (not profit-seeking)279R0.162bn(R0.107bn)Fully state owned1990 (reconfigured 1999)Industrial Development Corporation of South AfricaIndustrial DevelopmentShareholder in numerous companies and subsidiariesR12.240bn(R3.bn)Fully state owned1940Land and Agricultural Development Bank of South AfricaAgricultural FinanceDevelopment finance for farmersR5.032bn(R2.124bn)Fully state owned1912South African Broadcasting CorporationBroadcastingSouth African public service broadcaster3,167R6.4bn(R0.6bn)Fully state owned1936South African ExpressTransport Regional airline980Fully state owned1994South African Forestry CompanyForestryManages forestry on state owned land2,363R0.93bn(R0.08bn)Fully state owned1992South African Nuclear Energy CorporationEnergyManages the Pelindaba research reactor1,400R2.702bn(0.131bn)Fully state owned1999 (in current form)South African Post OfficePostal servicesNational postal services18,119R4.5bn(R0.9bn)Fully state owned1991South African AirwaysTransport International airline10,071R30.7bn(R5.4bn)Fully state owned1934Telkom SATelecommunicationsNational telephone monopoly18,286R41bnR4.9bn55.3% state owned"Here is Government’s shareholding in South African telecoms companies", mybroadband.co.za, 23 June 2015.1991Trans-Caledon Tunnel AuthorityPublic utilityWater transport authority141R2.3bnR2.1bnFully state owned1986Transnet TransportRailways, harbours, oil/fuel pipelines and terminals55,946R74bnR6.04bnFully state owned1990
+List of other large South African public entities (Schedule 3) and companies in which the state is a shareholder. FY2019/2020 Data.NameIndustryNotesEmployeesRevenueProfit/(Loss)Ownership typeEstablishedCouncil for Scientific and Industrial ResearchResearch & DevelopmentNational research organisation3,000R2.5bnR0.007bnFully state owned1945Passenger Rail Agency of South AfricaRailwaysPassenger railway services16,350R13.65bn(R1.69bn)Fully state owned1990PetroSAEnergyNational oil and gas company1,594R10.3bn(R1.6bn)Fully state owned1965PBMR Research & DevelopmentDevelopment of Pebble Bed Modular Reactor nuclear energy technology9001994Rand WaterPublic utilityWater utility for Gauteng province.3,411R13.4bnR3.15bnFully state owned1903SasolEnergyInternational coal-liquefaction, petroleum refining and distribution.30,100US$21.7bnUS$3.11bn27.3% state owned (mostly indirectly through the government employees pension fund)1950SentechTelecommunicationsTelecommunications infrastructure531R1.4bnR0.18bnFully state owned1996South African National ParksNature conservationOwner and operator of national parks.4,181R2.6bnR0.2bnFully state owned1926South African National Roads AgencyInfrastructureMaintenance and development of the national road network397R3,6bnR1.01bnFully state owned1998Vodacom TelecommunicationsCellular services7,554R86.4bnR24.5bn13.9% state owned1994
Full list As of July 2026, there are 123 entities listed by the South African Government as, "State-Owned Enterprises and Other Public Institutions". These include:
Accounting Standards Board Agricultural Research Council (ARC) Air Traffic and Navigation Services Company Airports Company South Africa (ACSA) Alexkor Limited Armaments Corporation of South Africa (ARMSCOR) Blind SA Brand South Africa Breede-Gouritz CMA Broadband Infraco Broadcasting Complaints Commission of South Africa (BCCSA) Cape Town International Airport Central Energy Fund (CEF) Commission for Conciliation, Mediation and Arbitration Commission for Employment Equity Companies and Intellectual Property Commission (CIPC) Compensation Fund Competition Commission (The) Competition Tribunal Council for Geoscience Council for Medical Schemes Council on Higher Education Denel (Pty) Ltd Development Bank of Southern Africa (DBSA) Eskom Estate Agency Affairs Board (The) Export Credit Insurance Corporation of South Africa (Ltd.) Film and Publication Board (FPB) Financial Sector Conduct Authority (FSCA) Free State Development Corporation Freedom Park Government Employees Medical Scheme (GEMS) Government Employees Pension Fund (GEPF) Health and Welfare Sector Education and Training Authority (HWSETA) Health Professions Council of South Africa (HPCSA) Housing Development Agency (HDA) Human Sciences Research Council (HSRC) Independent Development Trust Industrial Development Corporation [Ltd] (IDC) Ingonyama Trust Board Institute of People Management (IPM) Ithala Development Finance Corporation (Ltd) Khula Enterprise Finance (Ltd) King Shaka International Airport Land Bank Legal Aid South Africa Limpopo Economic Development Enterprise Media Development and Diversity Agency (MDDA) Mhlathuze Water Mining Qualification Authority Mintek (Council for Mineral Technology) National Advisory Council on Innovation (NACI) National Agricultural Marketing Council National Archives of South Africa (NASA) National Arts Council of South Africa (NACSA) National Consumer Commission (The) (NCC) National Credit Regulator (NCR) National Development Agency (NDA) National Economic Development and Labour Council (NEDLAC) National Electronic Media of South Africa (NEMISA) National Empowerment Fund National Energy Regulator (NERSA) National Film and Video Foundation National Gambling Board of South Africa National Home Builders Registration Council (NHBRC) National House of Traditional Leaders National Housing Finance Corporation (NHFC) National Lotteries Commission National Nuclear Regulator (NNR) National Peace Accord Trust (NPAT) National Ports Authority (NPA) National Student Financial Aid Scheme (NSFAS) National Transmission Company of South Africa (NTCSA)