Photo by: Bloomberg
Four state-owned enterprises – Eskom, South African Airways (SAA), Denel, and Alexkor – as well as the UIF, the Compensation Fund, and the National Student Financial Aid Scheme (NSFAS) have missed the deadline to file their annual financial statements in Parliament.
Under the Public Finance Management Act (PFMA), state entities must file annual financials by 30 September. Those with listed debt must also lodge statements with the JSE by the same deadline.
In a letter to the Speaker of Parliament, Public Enterprises Minister Pravin Gordhan said that Eskom expects to finalise its accounts during October.
"Eskom's external auditors have identified matters that still need further investigations and/or attention," he said.
At a briefing last week, acting Eskom CEO Calib Cassim said that "there were one or two transactions" that the Auditor-General had questioned. The PFMA audit had also yet to be completed.
SAA last finalised its annual financial statements five years ago in 2018. Gordhan said he had been advised that the accounts may only be finalised after the audits for the previous five years had been completed. Denel, which last published its accounts three years ago, is planning to complete audits for the past three years in November.
State-owned diamond miner Alexkor, also financially distressed, is a year behind in its reporting and will finalise last year's statements imminently, and this year's by the end of October or soon after that.
The NSFAS, which has recently completed its 2021/22 audit, hopes to submit its 2022/23 statements by the end of March 2024, said a letter from Minister of Higher Education, Science, and Innovation Blade Nzimande.
The financial statements of both the UIF and the Compensation Fund are more than a year behind. Neither has finalised the 2021/22 annual accounts. Minister of Labour and Employment Thulas Nxesi said that both funds were estimated to finalise this year's statements by June 2024.