This seemingly intractable impasse was laid out by speakers at a panel discussion yesterday during a tripartite conference on black economic empowerment (BEE).

Minister of Agriculture Helmut Angula, who also chairs the Cabinet Committee on divestiture of State-owned enterprises (SOEs), revealed that about 51 per cent of the soon-to-be-tabled additional budget consisted of support for SOEs.

Angula said Government was preparing a detailed policy on restructuring State companies, which had as one of its principles "doing away with SOEs bleeding the State revenue (fund)".

"Why should we sustain three or four bankrupt companies when my people have no water?" Angula demanded.

The Minister said Government would not follow an outright privatisation policy, as had been imposed by the IMF and World Bank on many African countries, such as Zambia.

Rather, "a few targeted SOEs that are economically suitable" would be selected and Government would sell a certain percentage of its share holding to private businesses, community groups and employees.

He emphasised this was part of a broader plan to make SOEs more efficient and eliminate waste and corruption. "That is why every month there are investigations (into SOEs) with sometimes astonishing results," he said.

Peter Naholo, Secretary General of the National Union of Namibian Workers (NUNW), said privatisation, in whatever form, would make the masses worse off.

In a lengthy speech, Naholo listed examples from around the world of privatisation gone wrong.

Zambia had seen the loss of 150 000 public sector jobs by 1996. In Vietnam about 1,5 million workers had lost their jobs as result of public sector restructuring. In Argentina an estimated 200 000 jobs were lost over five years of privatisation.

Service levels had gone down as well. In the UK, many citizens were afraid to travel on the privatised railway network, said Naholo, whereas a number of US states had been subjected to blackouts as privatised power networks failed to cope with demand.

Naholo said Government lacked a mandate to sell State assets. "Why is the Government so desperate to sell State-owned assets? Can they really push ahead with privatisation in the face of public condemnation?" he asked.

Another panelist, Bank of Namibia Governor Tom Alweendo, said Government and labour should try to find a "middle point" on the issue.

He did not buy the argument that private firms were necessarily more efficient than state-owned ones, but said limited privatisation would free up considerable money for vital services such as education, and allow Government to cut its debt.

Hewat Beukes, listed as a community activist, said privatising and commercialising key services was in conflict with the Bill of Rights.

Already, commercialisation of municipal services like water provision had led to much suffering.

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