ANC Chairman on economic transformation, Enoch Godongwana, said during an interview with the Sunday Times that money from the country’s private and public pension funds should be used to pay off the debts of struggling state-owned enterprises such as Eskom and SAA. In response to the statement, economist Mike Schüssler said it was just another way to take and use South Africans’ assets to save the country’s situation.
According to Godongwana it is a better alternative than approaching the International Monetary Fund (IMF) and the World Bank for help. He argues that borrowing money from the World Bank is insignificant because there is enough money in the economy that can be borrowed, probably cheaper and possibly with a smaller exchange rate risk. He goes further by saying that the country’s asset management industry, which includes pension funds, insurers and other investors, is estimated to have about R6 000bn under management.
