Gordhan confirms controversial SAA and Takatso Consortium deal, is off the table

Johnathan Paoli

Public Enterprises Minister Pravin Gordhan has announced that the negotiations between the government and the Takatso Consortium as a private equity partner for state airline entity South African Airways (SAA) are officially canceled.

Gordhan was speaking on the sidelines of Parliament on Wednesday and said one of the main reasons was the exceptional growth in the value of SAA’s assets since the Covid-19 epidemic when the Consortium was selected as the preferred bidder.

The Minister said that due to the nature of the airlines as a public asset, it remained the government’s responsibility to ensure that fair value and the public interest was being served.

In 2021, when the aviation industry was in recession due to the COVID-19 pandemic, the government selected the consortium as its preferred equity partner for a 51% stake in the business, with an expected capital injection of at least R3 billion.

However, Gordhan