President Cyril Ramaphosa has vowed to take drastic steps to prevent state-owned companies from failing. His statement comes after government announced the dissolution of the PRASA interim board and the placement of the SOE under administration. Cash-strapped and heavily indebted, state companies including South African Airways (SAA), power utility Eskom, defence firm Denel and PRASA have become a major headache for Ramaphosa as he seeks to reverse years of stagnant growth. Last week SAA was placed on voluntary business rescue. Where did we go wrong with our SOEs? Is Government to blame?

GUEST: Moeletsi Mbeki, who is a Political economist