The goings on at state-owned entities (SOEs) have occupied front pages of newspapers and led television news bulletins. More often than not, the coverage has been bleak, dominated by scandals of mismanagement, corruption, failing infrastructure and collapsing governance. Focusing on the negative has created a single-story narrative: that SOEs are irredeemably broken. Yet the truth, as is often the case, is far more complex.
Let’s stop for a moment to ask some pertinent questions: why does the news media often ignore the successes of SOEs? Why do we so rarely read about entities that are quietly performing, delivering, and even excelling? Surely public interest also includes celebrating honest, competent and high-performing officials as well as entities that are getting it right.
Take Eskom. For eight consecutive years the power utility recorded losses, and stories of state capture and deep malfeasance rightly dominated headlines. Those failures were in the public interest, and the nation deserved to know the scale of the problem.
But where is the equal coverage now that Eskom has turned a profit for the first time in nearly a decade? Where are the banner headlines acknowledging this turnaround, achieved despite immense structural challenges? If failure is news, then surely recovery and progress are newsworthy too.
Rand Water offers another example. This entity continues to demonstrate high levels of operational excellence in its performance. It delivers safe, high-quality water to millions of households and industries in Gauteng and beyond. The fact that it was nominated by the Global Water Intelligence Organisation as one of the top four water utilities in the world for the 2024 Public Agency of the Year Award remains unknown. That it has developed a flagship project known as System 5A, which is celebrated in the sector for its use of cutting-edge civil engineering technology and innovation, does not make "news".
I suspect the reality of our water shortage woes has more to do with municipal neglect of infrastructure, failure to maintain reticulation systems, and inability to settle unpaid bills to bulk suppliers.
Critics often argue that "good news doesn’t sell". But this is a convenient excuse rather than an immutable law. We are not only consumers of scandal and failure. We also want to know where progress is made, where lessons can be learnt and where hope might be found. The same media that insist on holding SOEs accountable for their failings should tell the whole story, in all its complexity.
I ask again, is it not in the public interest to know when entities are excelling, just as much as when they are failing?
None of this is an argument for ignoring failure or sweeping corruption under the carpet. On the contrary, robust, independent journalism is vital in holding public institutions accountable. But accountability does not only mean exposing wrongdoing. It also means acknowledging improvement, highlighting best practice, and reinforcing the behaviours and values we want to see replicated.
When the only story told about SOEs is one of dysfunction, dedicated employees are left feeling invisible, devalued and demoralised. Celebrating success, on the other hand, creates positive peer pressure, sets benchmarks, and strengthens the culture of accountability.
South Africa is in desperate need of narratives of renewal on topics including competence, integrity and ethical leadership. The media has a crucial role to play in this. Our democracy will not be strengthened by cynicism alone. A balanced media ecosystem that can expose wrongdoing without succumbing to fatalism and celebrate success without delivering propaganda would benefit both citizen and country.
When Eskom turns the corner after years of despair, that is a story worth telling. When Rand Water continues its unbroken record of clean audits, operational excellence and innovative interventions, that is a good story to tell. And when honest officials resist the temptations of corruption and dedicate their careers to public service, that too deserves the spotlight.
What Eskom CEO Dan Marokane and his team, supported by their board under chair Mteto Nyathi, have achieved is a brilliant turnaround story.
I think it’s time the news media realised that it owes the public more than a steady diet of crisis. We can do with truth in its fullness — the failures and the successes, the despair and the hope.
Only then can we, as citizens, form a better picture of our public institutions and hold them accountable in a way that builds rather than destroys.
• Qinga-Vika is a former executive of a state-owned company and the founder and MD of VQ Communications. She writes in her personal capacity
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