SA Express Name for Sale at R150,000 As Liquidation Nears End

• More than six years after SA Express collapsed, its name and brand are set to be sold for just R150,000 as the liquidation process nears completion
• The South Gauteng High Court granted a final liquidation order in 2022 after failed rescue attempts, cancelled licences and debts of nearly R1 billion left the airline grounded for good
• While most assets have been sold, about 55 former employees are still owed money, with the estate expected to be finalised by April 2026

SOUTH AFRICA - More than six years after SA Express first went under, the airline’s name and brand could soon have a new owner, for just R150,000.

The liquidation of the once-busy domestic carrier is almost complete, with only employee payouts and the sale of its intellectual property standing in the way of closing the books on one of South Africa’s most troubled airlines.

A report by Business Tech indicated that the South Gauteng High Court issued a final liquidation order for SA Express in September 2022, after the airline had struggled under insolvency for years. Attempts to revive it, including a consortium of employees buying assets for R50 million, failed. Additionally, the cancellation of its licences in July 2022 left the airline with no tangible assets and nearly R1 billion in debts.

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SA Express goes into provisional liquidation

When SA Express first went into provisional liquidation in 2020, around 600 workers lost their jobs and unpaid wages. Today, about 55 employees are still owed an average of R4,500 each. Liquidators are working to track them down, with any unclaimed funds set to go to the state’s Guardians Fund.

Most of the company’s assets and debts have been dealt with, including the sale of six ageing aircraft. Four of the aircraft were sold for R1.18 million as scrap, as they were no longer operational. Some had not been maintained, were in poor condition, and a few were even missing engines.

This leaves just two outstanding matters: employee payments and the sale of the airline’s brand and intellectual property, valued at around R150,000. Liquidator Aviwe Ndyamara told Parliament that the estate could be fully wrapped up by April 2026 if these final issues are resolved within the next two months.

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Final liquidation announced

The Department of Public Enterprises says it is deeply disappointed by the South Gauteng High Court’s final liquidation order placing SA Express into liquidation in September 2022. The order confirmed that the airline will not return to the skies after liquidators handling the provisional liquidation failed to secure a buyer. The department expressed sympathy for employees who worked for years without receiving compensation. It attributed the collapse to prolonged mismanagement, state capture and corruption, worsened by COVID-19’s impact on aviation, adding that the government’s fiscal constraints made it impossible to provide the funding needed to rescue the airline.

Articles on other company liquidations

• SA Express is not the only company to find itself in a dire financial position. Business Rescue Practitioners (BRPs) have moved to liquidate Tongaat Hulett South Africa. The liquidation is expected to affect 5,446 sugarcane farmers in KwaZulu-Natal.The BRPs have approached the KwaZulu-Natal High Court to terminate the company’s business rescue proceedings and place the group into provisional liquidation. They said they had exhausted all reasonable avenues to save the company, which was founded in 1892.
• In another liquidation affecting South Africa, the South African Reserve Bank’s Prudential Authority moved to shut down Oranjekas, a Pretoria-based cooperative bank that primarily serves Afrikaners. The regulator cited a breakdown in governance, financial mismanagement, and ongoing non-compliance with regulations, stating that the bank’s financial position had deteriorated beyond recovery. Oranjekas had until 12 August 2025 to file a convincing legal submission opposing the final liquidation.
• Briefly News also reported that PSL club Royal AM faced liquidation after failing to meet salary demands and a R40 million tax debt. Reports stated the club, owned by tenderpreneur Shawn Mkhize, was impacted due to theSARS investiagtion against its owner.

Proofreading by Kelly Lippke, copy editor at Briefly.co.za.

Source: Briefly News