Thank you very much, Chair. I am committed to making all of these state-owned companies work with me in order to be well run, as they are able to be, and that is what we are committed to doing. In fact, if I did not hear the ANC today, I would have thought there were only two SOCs in my portfolio and that is Eskom and SA Airways. There are eight of them, and one will be leaving quite soon. We are doing this to make sure that we are able to grow the economy.
The hon Letsatsi-Duba raised the issue of the Government Shareholder Management Bill. That will come early next year. I want to say this year, but it will come early next year because it has to go through a series of discussions. The Shareholder Compact is the performance agreement between the state-owned companies and the shareholder.
I am unhappy with how the two SOCs have done thus far. They did not reach at least 70% of the performance agreements we have. Anything below that does not work for me, because it means that you are not able to meet something you have agreed to. That is something we have to deliver on.
I have dealt with the issue of privatisation. But I also want to say that I do not want to grow the economy for just individuals. To me that is privatisation. Besides that, just look at the New Zealand Airline and Australian Airline, hon member Van Damme. These are long-haul airlines. Both of them were privatised and both privatisations had to be reversed for the state to assist because they are long-haul destinations.
I am asking the portfolio committee to let us engage further on these issues so that we can deal with the matters in a direct way. In fact, in 1999, this South African government called on private bidders to come into Eskom, and nobody came. Yet the opposition fights for the Independent System and Market Operator Bill!
What we need to do, hon member Greyling, is to know what the end state of energy is. If it is the Independent System and Market Operator Bill in its original form, then that is what it will be. But if it is not, whether you are in opposition to it or not, we will not be dealing with it in that kind of way. We must know what the end state is. Therefore, in your energy committee, you will see the integrated resource plan, the IRP, coming on line quite soon.
To the hon Singh and many other members, I welcome engagement with the department. Also, to the hon member Madisha, I am happy to answer all those detailed questions, but I think what we need to do is to deal with them in the portfolio committee, because that is where they should be discussed. In addition, you could write to me and I could then respond to them.
I actually agree on the issue of salaries, and that is why we have decided that the Government Shareholder Management Bill deals with the issue of salaries. But it is also linked to the Shareholder Compact because if they do not meet the targets agreed on, we will not be able to give them bonuses. If we changed salaries at this stage, that would be against the labour laws, especially for management. Even though the request was for much higher increases, 5% went to Eskom for the board members. I believe you must keep it at a level that makes everyone feel very proud. Hon members, thank you very much for participating. [Applause.]
Debate concluded.