Governance at South African state‐owned enterprises: what do annual reports and the print media tell us?

Purpose - The overall objective of the study was to track, over a two‐year period, the reported incidences of corporate governance transgressions at five strategic South African state‐owned enterprises (SOEs). Design/methodology/approach - Transgressions for each SOE were documented against the Organisation for Economic Co‐operation and Development's framework of best practice in governance for SOEs by reviewing annual reports and newspaper article citations over a two‐year period. Findings - While political intervention in the operational running of each SOE is apparent, government appears not to have fulfilled its oversight role of ensuring the sound governance of SOEs according to best practices. While the SOEs appear to comply with external governance demands, compliance to internal, self‐regulated governance appears to be lacking. Research limitations/implications - The use of annual reports and media reports to document governance practices are open to subjectivity. The broader extrapolation of findings based on five SOEs must be undertaken with caution. Practical implications - The present study alerts government to potential areas of corporate governance practices at South African SOEs that warrant attention. As South Africa has recently joined the BRICS bloc of developing countries, the findings from the present study could afford a starting point for future comparative study among this group of countries, which appears to evidence similar challenges with regard to governance within their SOEs. Originality/value - The present study begins to elevate the debate on corporate governance at South African SOEs from public rhetoric to a deeper understanding of the nature of the major problems that warrant attention. Although limited in scope, the study contributes to the scarce academic literature on public sector corporate governance in Africa in general, and in the South African SOE sector in particular.