Resumo

THABANE, T. Rebooting State-Owned Companies in South Africa: Exploring the Viability of Singapore's State Holding Company (Temasek) Model of Ownership and Control. PER [online]. 2024, vol.27, n.1, pp.1-30. ISSN 1727-3781.  https://doi.org/10.17159/1727-3781/2024/v27i0a17022.

This article joins the growing discourse in search of a responsive governance model for state-owned companies (SOCs) in South Africa capable of engendering corporate governance and financial viability. The Singaporean state-holding company model of the ownership and control of SOCs (Temasek model), at the heart of which is Temasek Holdings, is widely considered the gold standard of corporate governance and financial viability across the SOCs landscape. Policymakers and scholars alike have proposed adopting this model in South Africa. However, the proposals have fallen short of critically examining the model's salient attributes, the legal and regulatory environment within which it operates, and the model's socio-political and economic logic to test its viability in the South African context. This article closes this gap by conducting a four-pronged examination of the model. First, it provides a nuanced understanding of the nature of the so-called "Singapore Inc". Secondly, it delves deeper into the model's anchoring legal and regulatory framework. Penultimately, the promise and pitfalls of the model are identified. In conclusion, it is argued that the Temasek model is exceptional in many respects and that its exceptionalism necessitates a cautious and nuanced adoption that considers the idiosyncratic circumstances of South Africa. In this regard the article proposes adapting the Temasek model and argues that the model can apply only to SOCs with commercial orientation. It proposes a super-agency akin to the Chinese State-Owned Assets Supervision and Administration Commission of the State Council (saSAC) for non-commercial entities to discharge centralised ownership and control functions. In essence the article argues that a viable model of ownership and control for SOCs capable of engendering sound corporate governance and financial viability in South Africa's SOCs is not a single entity model in the form of a state-holding company but rather a twin-track model with one track catering for commercial entities and another for non-commercial entities.

Palavras-chave : Singapore state-holding company; Temasek; government-linked companies; state-owned companies; ownership and control; corporate governance.

        · texto em Inglês     · Inglês ( pdf )