Ann Crotty, a columnist for Business Day, writes that “state ownership may still be best.” The issue is to improve performance of publicly-owned companies. “There is also the matter of the doubtful benefits of privatization. Not only does it diminish government’s ability to influence the economy but benefits tend to accrue to a handful of people. Telkom looks strong now, but it went through a rocky period that began with a suspect BEE transaction that made a few individuals very wealthy. Iscor, whose privatization began in the 1990s, has benefited none more than the Mittal family. Recent research by the University of Greenwich in the UK suggests easy assumptions about the benefits of privatization may be misplaced. It found that consumers in England were paying R2.3bn/year more for their privatized water and sewerage system than if the utility had remained in state hands. The nine regional water and sewerage companies have invested no significant new shareholder equity but have extracted nearly all of their post-tax profit as dividends. Debt has been accumulated to finance infrastructure. There are no easy ways to avoid the tough lessons we have to learn.”