By Zuko Komisa
John Lamola, the executive chair of South African Airways (SAA), has refuted suggestions that the government-owned airline’s survival is in jeopardy.
This comes after media reports said that the airline was in danger of going out of business because the deal involving the strategic equity partnership (SEP) with Takatso Consortium was taking too long to close.
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Lamola clarified that statements made about the deal by Acting DG of the Department of Public Enterprises (DPE), Jacky Molisane, have been misinterpreted.
“On Wednesday… SAA and the DPE were making a scheduled presentation to Parliament’s Portfolio Committee on Public Enterprises on SAA’s 2017/18 annual financial statements.
“An ancillary question related to the progress on the SEP transaction, in relation to funds outstanding from National Treasury for the conclusion of SAA’s Business Rescue Plan – answered by the Acting DG – led to a press story casting an impression that the future of SAA is in peril.”
“The news that SAA will be liquidated if the SEP transaction is not concluded has been taken out of context, and the import of the statement made by the Acting DG is exaggerated and blown out of proportion.”
“We are in constant contact with the Acting DG. Her views, which are based on a continuous management of all the regulatory, legal and commercial processes common to transactions of this nature, are aligned with those of the board of SAA. The SAA board is constantly monitoring and assessing the corporate risks associated with this transitional period SAA is going through,” he said.
He also said that The SAA board will do everything in its power to ensure SAA survives, and assured that there is a variety of resources within the company and a global aviation industry that can be innovatively exploited for the future success of SAA.
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