Neither the African National Congress (ANC) nor the Ministry of Public Enterprises would comment on Friday afternoon on the details of a meeting that took place earlier in the day between the governing party's secretary general, Gwede Mantashe, and Public Enterprises Minister Barbara Hogan.

Hogan came in for heavy criticism on Thursday from both the ANC in Parliament and from a leading trade union for her suggestion that unprofitable State-owned enterprises should possibly be privatised.

Parliament's portfolio committee on public enterprises chairperson Mabel Mentor, and the National Union of Mineworkers general secretary Frans Baleni indicated that Hogan had overstepped the mark with "utterances" that would have effectively amounted to a "major policy shift".

Hogan's office confirmed the meeting, but referred all media enquiries to the ANC.

But, beyond confirming that a meeting, involving Mantashe, Hogan and Deputy Minister Enoch Godongwana, had taken place, ANC spokesperson Jessie Duarte refused to provide many details.

She told Engineering News Online in a telephone interview that the meeting had been "constructive" and allowed for a better understanding to be developed on the ANC's policy perspective relating to public enterprises.

Duarte also confirmed that there would be no shift in the policy "whatsoever".