South Africa: In defence of state-owned enterprises – but without reckless borrowing from banks

I’ll stick my neck out and defend the need for the government’s ownership of the economy.

Put differently, I believe in the need for state-owned enterprises (SOEs) and for the government to use them as vehicles to control the economy, and, in turn, pursue South Africa’s developmental goals. 

Cue the trashing of this writer. But I beg your indulgence while I attempt to make my point. 

The year 2004 was a turning point for the SOE universe in South Africa. This was when the ANC —…