R200m of Taxpayers' Cash Wasted on SAA While Employees Still Unpaid
- Recent reports reveal that SAA is nowhere near being saved even after taxpayers pumped a whopping R200 million into the airline's business rescue fund
- According to recent reports, a number of consultants and practitioners received millions from the fund that was meant to restore SAA
- All of this comesas thousands of SAA employees have yet to receive a salary and are subsequently facing a further deterioration of quality of life
PAY ATTENTION: Join Briefly News' Telegram channel! Never miss important updates!
A recent report has revealed that a whopping R200 million has been squandered by those who were meant to "fix" the ailing SAA airline as per Minister Pravin Gordhan's instructions in 2019 that the airline receives business rescue.
While there seems to be no light at the end of the tunnel for SAA, the pockets of those involved in supposedly fixing it have become a whole lot fuller.
According to a reliable publication which claims to have seen documents containing information about the beneficiaries of the fund, practitioners Les Mattison and Siviwe Dongwana pocketed a combined R59 million.
The largest piece of the R200 million has allegedly gone to a law firm called Edward Nathann Sonnenbergs (ENS), which got R45.4 million. A bunch of unnamed consultants also received R97.3 million.
IOL also reports that thousands of SAA employees have yet to be paid their salaries and continue on a downhill slope when it comes to the standard of living. Many of them also live in uncertainty about when they will be paid, that is if it ever happens.
The employees have not been paid since April last year after the pandemic knocked the final bit of breath out of the already-struggling airline. Many of them have expressed disdain at the professionals who were meant to rescue the airline and subsequently their jobs.
Source: Twitter
Briefly.co.za previously reported that embattled airline South African Airways (SAA) owes its technical staff R90 million and is currently waiting for funding to pay them. Staff members held a demonstration on Monday in Kempton Park, claiming they had only received half of their pay.
The staff members said that management had gotten their pay in full. The staff also claimed that they were informed at the very last minute that they would only be receiving 25% of their salaries when they usually received 50%.
In December, the airline put a pause on all operations and proceeded to seek bankruptcy protection. Administrators for SAA said they needed R10.5 billion to recommence activities, while Finance Minister Tito Mboweni is only prepared to provide guarantees on R4 billion to R5 billion on the amount given.
Enjoyed reading our story? Download BRIEFLY's news app on Google Play now and stay up-to-date with major South African news!
Source: Briefly News
