Cape Town – The standing committee on public accounts (Scopa) has postponed its meeting on matters related to SAA, including the sale of 51% shares, at the request of Public Enterprises Minister Pravin Gordhan.
The meeting was on the Z-list of meetings on Monday and prior days, but was not on Tuesday’s list and no explanation was provided.
However, it emerged that Gordhan wrote to committee chairperson, Mkhuleko Hkengwa on Friday, asking for a postponement.
“Please note that late this week, I was requested by the president to accompany him on a state visit to Kenya, from the November 8-9 2022.
“This will clash with your planned meeting, at which I would have wanted to be present,” he wrote.
Gordhan requested a postponement so that he could attend the meeting upon his return, since the SAA-Takatso transaction was being led by his department.
Hlengwa confirmed to the Cape Times that the meeting was postponed.
“The minister is in Kenya, and the meeting is rescheduled for November 15,” he said.
But DA MP Alf Lees took issue with Gordhan’s request for a postponement “long after the notice for SAA to appear before Scopa was issued”.
Lees said SAA had been asked to update Scopa on the status of the SAA-Takatso deal that would see 51% SAA of being transferred to the Takatso Consortium.
“These shares in SAA are sold after all liabilities of SAA have been paid by the taxpayer,” he said.
Gordhan and his department have not divulged the full details of the transaction to the committee or in responses to parliamentary questions since the announcement was made 17 months ago.
President Cyril Ramaphosa told Parliament on Thursday the quest for transparency on the SAA-Takatso deal was understandable and that the government needed to fully outline the terms of the transaction.
Meanwhile, it has emerged that SAA’s Aircraft Maintenance and in-flight catering services form part of the deal between the government and Takatso Consortium.
Gordhan revealed this in his responses to parliamentary questions posed by Lees.
In his response, Gordhan said the outstanding steps to complete the transaction were mainly regulatory processes.
“These relate to the approvals from the Competition Commission as well as the Air Services regulatory processes; and R2.6 billion funding required for SAA to complete implementing the business rescue plan which initially was R3.5bn but has been reduced by R0.9bn in a payment made by SAA,” he said.
Gordhan said it was anticipated that the disposal of the shares would be finalised by March 2023 at the latest depending on the outcome of the outstanding matters.
On the profit or losses made by SAA, the minister stuck to his guns that any financial information that had not been tabled in Parliament could disadvantage the airline against its competitors.
“However, all the relevant information will be made public as soon as possible,” he said.
“Cognisance must also be taken of the repeated efforts by various parties/entities to disrupt this process. We are still assessing the commercial, political or other motives of these entities,” Gordhan said.
Cape Times
