THE United Democratic Movement (UDM) on Monday said it will take Public Enterprises Minister Pravin Gordhan to court following his announcement that Takatso Consortium will buy a 51% stake in South African Airways.
The sale of a 51% shareholding in SAA to the Takatso Consortium, comprising Harith Management Partners (HMP) and Global Aviation, has set off a storm of controversy and allegations of corruption.
“The entire SAA deal has been nebulous, and it is unclear how government prioritised Harith as a partner after the negative things the Mpati Commission had to say about it,” said UDM leader Bantu Holomisa.
Holomisa added that the UDM had therefore decided to brief its lawyer and will go ahead and challenge the minister decision in court.
He also tweeted: “Nothing is sacred to these people. No guarantees that government pensions are safe! UDM will take Gordhan to court in an effort to stop SAA deal! After what Mpati Commission said about Harith, it’s strange that Gordhan chooses them as a business partner?”
SAA was placed under voluntary business rescue in December 2019, and this was wrapped up in April 2021.
The business rescue partners (BRPs) informed the Standing Committee on Public Accounts (Scopa), at its meeting on March 25, that liabilities and claims had been reduced by R35.7 billion through a compromise negotiated with concurrent creditors and lessors, and that SAA’s workforce had been reduced from 4 700 employees to 1 000.
- Inside Politics
