Government needs to retain its ownership of state-owned companies to ensure economic growth and create employment for generations to come, said Public Enterprises Minister Lynne Brown. In her budget speech for the 2016-17 financial year, Brown emphasised that South Africa’s parastatals, worth R908bn, are key strategic assets that need to be kept intact. “We must maintain the ownership of these state-owned companies given their size and contribution to our economy.” She added that the retention …