Political/commercial background: State role in the economy

摘要

Although the South African government is committed to a free-market economy, it maintains monopoly or near monopoly control over enterprises in several sectors. Overseen by the Department of Public Enterprises (DPE), the more significant state-owned enterprises (SOEs) are the following: Alexkor (diamond mining), Broadband Infraco (telecommunications), Denel (defence manufacturer), Eskom (electric utility), South African Airways (the national airline), South African Express Airways (a regional airline), South African Forestry Company (forestry) and Transnet (logistics and transport). The state also partially owns several other companies, such as Telkom (telecommunications), in which it holds a 40.5 stake.