Finance Minister Tito Mboweni said government will soon cut support to struggling state-owned enterprises (SOEs), in what a Business Day report says could be seen as a first step towards privatisation. Ratings agencies have cited SOEs, including Eskom and SAA, which carry debt approaching R700bn, among the major risks to the sustainability of the country’s finances. During the Treasury’s budget vote debate in Parliament late yesterday, Mboweni said that once the annual Appropriation Bill was enacted, additional financial support would be provided to SOEs, such as SAA, the SABC and Denel, from the contingency reserve. ‘But I must emphasise that this additional government support cannot be a blank cheque to these SOEs. We really and truly cannot go on like this.’ He said a broad strategic framework in the form of a Green Paper, which would culminate in a White Paper, would soon be published. This, Mboweni said, would deal with the future that government expected SOEs to play in a fast-changing micro- and macroeconomic environment. ‘In some cases, such as in aviation and in broadcasting, various companies are making profits and providing good quality service. Yet SOEs in the same sectors, operating under the same economic conditions, are relying on government bailouts. We cannot allow this to continue,’ Mboweni said. He added: ‘Given the high risks to the economy of a systemic failure if Eskom were to collapse, government is urgently working on stabilising the utility, while developing a broad strategy for its future.’