OPPOSITION parties have slammed government’s decision to sell 51% of South African Airways (SAA) to a politically connected consortium.
This comes after Public Enterprises Minister Pravin Gordhan announced on Friday that Takatso Consortium will hold 51% of the shares and the South African government the remaining 49%.
Parties have also raised concerns about the involvement of politically exposed individuals like former deputy minister of Finance Jabu Moleketi and ANC heavyweight Popo Molefe, who are part of the consortium, for influencing Takatso Consortium being appointed as the private equity partner.
United Democratic Movement (UDM) leader Bantu Holomisa said at the weekend that the entire South African Airways (SAA) and Takatso Consortium transaction raised serious questions.
“How is it therefore possible for government to deal with an entity with such a stain on its record and this whilst the Mpati Commission’s recommendations have not yet been fully executed? The Public Investment Corporation’s board must, as a matter of urgency, take the nation into its confidence as to how far it has come in implementing those recommendations and also make a statement on its continued business relationship with Harith General Partners in light of the Mpati Commission’s views and findings,” asked Holomisa in a media statement.
“At last glance, the portfolio committee of Public Enterprises and the Standing Committee on Public Accounts (SCOPA) had been dealing with SAA’s business rescue and now we hear that a majority stake has been sold, without any details of whom Takatso Consortium’s competitors were, how the deal was structured, nor how it was financed.”
He added: “How much is this 51% worth? How can a R3 billion injection now suddenly be able to save SAA from certain death, whilst government has been pumping billions and billions of rands into this entity for years? Something is stinking to high heaven with this whole situation.”
Gordhan has refuted any allegations that ANC aligned businessmen influenced the deal.
“Minister Gordhan has hindered too shrouded these agreements in complete secrecy but very serious questions remain now that he has made a very general announcement, how these agreements tie in crucially to the PMFA requirements, who benefits from the agreements and particularly ANC cadres and the conflict of lift. There are many questions here,” said Ghaleb Cachalia of the Democratic Alliance.
The South African Communist Party (SACP) has also slammed the SAA deal, saying it part of the ‘neoliberal agenda’ to privatize the embattled national airline.
“The details surrounding the difference, that is the 51% stake now associated with control by a “strategic” equity partner, remain unclear,” the SACP said in a statement.
“While continuing the battle to deal with that on that score and considering other factors, the key task is to simultaneously defend state assets both at SAA and across the economy, with greater clarity on the developmental mandate of those assets.”
The Economic Freedom Fighters (EFF) has condemned the alleged privatization of SAA.
“The EFF condemns the privatisation of South African Airways, which effectively means South Africa no longer has a national airline. This comes after the minister of Public Enterprises Jamnandas Gordhan confirmed that 51% of ownership and control of the airline has been sold to Takatso Consortium, leaving government with a 49% stake in the airline,” said Julius Malema, EFF leader.
NUMSA and the South African Cabin Crew Association (SACCA) believe the deal was done without transparency.
They said the Department of Public Enterprises has failed to answer some pertinent questions.
NUMSA Spokesperson Phakamile Hlubi- Majola: “We have been asking since last year for DPE to be transparent about the process to appoint an equity partner for the sake of the future of SAA. But they refused to disclose. SAA was collapsed by mismanagement and rampant corruption which happened under the watch of DPE and Minister Gordhan. If we have to make a break from the past then transparency is a key factor in ensuring good governance and in ensuring that the same problems that brought down SAA are not repeated.”
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- Inside Politics
