SAA: Government Sells Large Stake of SOE to Black Owned Association

SAA: Government Sells Large Stake of SOE to Black Owned Association

  • The Department of Public Enterprises, Minister Pravin Gordhan announces the decision of the cabinet to allow SAA to be owned by a partnership between the government and a consortium
  • The partnership between the government and the consortium will be divided in a 51% and 49% split with the consortium consisting of Global Aviation and Harith owning 51%
  • The government will obtain a 33% share in the newly structured SAA with the members of board being decided based on ownership and due process

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The Department of Public Enterprises Minister Pravin Gordhan announced on Friday that an agreement has been met by Cabinet permitting the ownership of SAA through a partnership between the government and a consortium equity partner.

A consortium made up of Global Aviation and Harith collectivity known as Takatso upon investing an initial R3 billion will hold 51% of the company and government 49%.

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Gordhan confirmed that the board of the new SAA seats will be determined based on ownership and the outcomes of the due diligence process. With regards to the management of the airline, the government will hold a “non-dilutable golden share" of 33%.

Government will be assisting SAA once more
Minister Pravin Gordhan announced an agreement with Cabinet permitting ownership of SAA. Image: Waldo Swieggers / Bloomberg
Source: Getty Images

Intra-Africa transport

Gordhan continued emphasising that there is a current and growing requirement for intra-Africa air transport with the desired outcome of the partnership being a functioning, scalable national airline as SAA begin to build partnerships within the continent.

Gidon Novick, former Co-CEO of Comair and current CEO of Takatso expressed his gratitude and honour in being a part of a project of this scale and the importance.

State Capture challenges

following reports by News24, scheduled to be addressed during state capture is the challenges present among SAA's subsidiaries, namely: Mango, SAA Technical and AirChefs along with the promotion of a more diverse team of pilots

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IOL reported that SAA has been struggling for years as they have failed to obtain in over a decade relying on bailouts from the government ranging in the billions will no longer be relying on this option.

An outcome welcomed by some parties who have been insisting on the ceasing of bailouts of state-owned entities.

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SAA subsidiaries

Previously, Briefly News reported that approximately R2.7 billion of the R10.5 billion is set to be given to subsidiaries of South African Airways (SAA) in a step to set in motion its business rescue plan.

SAA subsidiaries Mango, SAAT and Air Chefs have so far been neglected despite SAA being under business rescue since December 2019 as these subsidiaries were not included in the rescue plan.

This consequently resulted in SAA business rescue practitioners not being legally able to allocate a portion of the post-commencement finance to the subsidiaries.

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Source: Briefly News

Authors:
Reeshni Chetty avatar

Reeshni Chetty Reeshni Chetty is a senior current affairs reporter. The Damelin journalism and media studies graduate was top of her class with 16 distinctions and she boasts experience in radio, print and digital media. When Reeshni is not rushing to bring you the most important and breaking news in current affairs, she's raising awareness around mental health. Reeshni has a passion for breaking the stigma surrounding mental health issues.