Minister Tau defends controversial IDC board appointments amid budget backlash

Trade, Industry and Competition Minister Parks Tau on Friday defended the appointment of ANC-aligned individuals to the board of the Industrial Development Corporation (IDC).

This was after his department came under criticism when he presented the 2025/26 budget in the National Assembly.

“It is disingenuous to simply suggest that capability is limited by the fact that you are affiliated with the ANC. It is not true. It is an anomaly to think that way,” Tau said.

There has been outrage after former ministers Ayanda Dlodlo and Sydney Mufamadi, as well as former KwaZulu-Natal premier Nomusa Dube-Ncube, were named among those appointed to the IDC board.

Now, there is a push for Tau to appear before the Trade, Industry and Competition Portfolio Committee to explain the appointment process for the board.

During the budget vote debate, the EFF described the IDC board as being filled with ANC loyalists while the DA questioned whether Tau was serious to believe that Dlodlo and Mufamadi were anything other than ANC deployees instructed to do the party’s work.

In his response, Tau said it was a problem in Parliament to suggest that Mufamadi, who is an industrial economist, simply because of his affiliation to the ANC, was not eligible to serve on the IDC board.

“He is an industrial economist and lectures on this subject. You can’t say a person who served on the World Bank, Ayanda Dlodlo, is not eligible. You don’t take advantage of the skills created by the country and experience of the people of your country,” he said.

Tau earlier told the parliamentarians that the department’s R11 billion budget signalled a pivot from crisis management to enabling growth.

“At its heart lies the simple conviction that when government, business, labour, and communities co-create solutions, we unlock exponential impact,” he said.

Tau said as part of the growth agenda, they were committed to an industrial policy that would improve the competitiveness of South African manufacturing, support investment in new industries, and build on South Africa’s mineral and resource endowments.

“Our industrial policy promotes local economic activity, and its review will be guided by opportunities in diversification, decarbonisation, and digitalisation.”

ANC MP Mzwandile Masina lamented the exporting of jobs because minerals were not processed in the country.

“We are unable to capitalise on them (strategic resources) because we are obsessed with pit-to-port, which has not yielded much economic growth in our country,” Masina said.

He said the country’s economic industrial policy should be anchored on innovation, research, and development.

Masina also said the issues of transformation require a rethink by the country.

“The government was correct to look into the issue of Broad-Based Black Economic Empowerment (B-BBEE) and score cards, which must include owner management control and its development. However, ownership and management control have not moved in the way we have expected,” he said.

MK Party Mzikayise Ntshingila said the budget failed to address the urgent realities.

“We find the budget of the Department of Trade, Industry and Competition deeply inadequate and misaligned with national priorities and out of touch with everyday struggles of our people,” Ntshingila said.

EFF MP Chumani Matiwane said the department was marred by scandals and patronage under Tau, including the questionable awarding of the lottery operator licence.

“We doubt if this department can be trusted with even a cent under his stewardship,” said Matiwane.

Rise Mzansi's Makashule Gana took a swipe at Tau for his inaction when the gambling operators were operating with impunity, when there was no national Gambling Board, and the National Gambling Council had not met for years.

“We face a gambling crisis. It is not a minor issue; it is an emergency. No country has ever gambled its way to prosperity,” Gana said.

In response, Tau said they were working to address transformation issues.

“We have been working on stemming the tide. We have been addressing a number of challenges in particular sectors and sectors of concern.”

Tau said the board of the National Gambling Board will be appointed soon and the National Gambling Council will meet next week.

“The board appointment is under way and will be taken to Cabinet.”

He committed to ensure to subject the lottery operator licence was subjected to “increased scrutiny and further accountability”.

mayibongwe.maqhina@inl.co.za