The sale agreement of 51% of SAA by the Department of Public Enterprises (DPE) to the Takatso Consortium has been scrapped.
Minister of Public Enterprises Pravin Gordhan revealed this information at a media briefing in Cape Town on Wednesday afternoon. He said that the airline would nonetheless continue with its activities and its plans.
On Wednesday morning, the Minister had earlier told the press that the renegotiation was in progress, and that was the reason why – along with the commercial sensitivity of the information in the documents – there was a need for secrecy. (That was in response to the Standing Committee on Public Accounting (SCOPA)’s insistence on seeing the documents of the sale. Gordhan agreed, provided that the committee met behind closed doors and members signed non-disclosure agreements.)
As the story of the renegotiation broke, so another press briefing was announced in which Gordhan made the announcement of the Takatso deal being completely off the table.
Gordhan once more denied the existence of any corruption in the transaction.
He emphasised that the airline would continue, that the airline would not receive any government funding and that employees' jobs were safe.
Said Gordhan: “SAA will follow its trajectory, it will grow and go forward, but does not require anything from government.”
Since early 2024, several consumer press reports have said that the government and the ruling ANC want the DPE to retain more than its 49% minority shareholding in the original Takatso deal, with calls in Parliament for a renegotiation.
