Parliament's Portfolio Committee on Public Enterprises this week got a glimpse of far-reaching administrative challenges facing state-owned enterprises, including incomplete financial statements, irregular spend and lack of action plans.

Irregular expenditure among the entities under the Department of Public Enterprises went from R31.4bn in the 2017/18 financial year to R86.2bn in the 2018/19 financial year.

Despite the entities under its care getting less than favourable audit outcomes, however, the Department of Public Enterprises itself got a clean audit from the Auditor-General in the 2018/19 financial year.

Last week, Parliament heard from Public Enterprises Minister Pravin Gordhan that South African Airways would again be missing the deadline to submit its annual report.

Meanwhile, debt-ridden Eskom has been plundered for years, with private companies receiving lucrative contracts from the power entity while supplying substandard coal, among other things.

Arms company Denel entered into transactions with businesses that were ultimately deemed unlawful.

Auditor General official, Yolisa Ndikandika, told the committee that while the Department of Public Enterprises retained a clean audit, the entities under the department were at varying stages of their journey to optimal financial health.

Fin24