Alec Erwin, the Minister of Public Enterprises, on Wednesday defended the performance bonus of the chief executive of the state-owned arms manufacturer Denel.
Manie van Dyk of the Democratic Alliance asked in a parliamentary question on what basis Shaun Liebenberg received a R3,25-million bonus as part of his total package of R7,4-million, when the audit report on Denel appeared to raise misgivings about the company’s future as a viable enterprise.
Van Dyk pointed out that Denel made a loss in the year of R549-million.
Erwin in a written reply said Liebenberg has an employment contract agreement with the Denel board that determines the terms of his remuneration and makes provision for a performance bonus upon achievement of certain performance objectives.
“Contracted objectives include the strategic repositioning of Denel and the achievement of key financial objectives in line with the annual corporate plan,” Erwin said. “During the 2006/07 financial year, exceptional performance was achieved on the strategic objectives set for Denel, and the financial targets set were exceeded.”
The minister also said that the auditor’s report was not qualified, and that the matter of Denel as a going concern was raised as a matter of emphasis “given the significance of the going concern assumption on any financial statements”. — I-Net Bridge