The Office of Public Enterprises (OPE) was established in 1994 to champion and direct the restructuring of State-Owned Companies (SOCs) and to ensure their optimal economic and developmental impact. A Cabinet decision was taken in 1999 to accelerate the restructuring of State-Owned Enterprises (SOEs) and the OPE was upgraded and re-designated as the Department of Public Enterprises (DPE) – a National Government Department. The DPE’s vision is to create an enabling environment in which SOCs add real economic value by focussing on operational excellence, commercial viability and fiscal prudence. This will drive developmental objectives, industrialisation, job creation and skills development.