DA submits PAIA application to obtain access to the SAA/Takatso sale of agreement

8 March 2022

Today, the DA submitted a Protection of Access to Information Act (PAIA) application to the Minister of Public Enterprises, Pravin Gordhan, requesting that he provides the DA with a copy of the sale of agreement between SAA and its new business partner, Takatso consortium.

A week ago, following the announcement made by the Presidency that an agreement between the government and Takatso had apparently been finalised, we wrote to Gordhan asking that he tables the sale of agreement in Parliament.

Not only did Gordhan ignore our call, he has also deliberately continued to deny Parliament its constitutional right to exercise full oversight over the SAA/Takatso deal. The speculation that surrounds the terms and conditions of the deal stem from the fact that Parliament has been unable to exercise full oversight over the agreement before it could be finalised.

Gordhan announced the deal with great fanfare on 11 June 2021 but failed to provide any real substance of what this would entail. There are a host of unanswered questions that must be dealt with in order to ensure that the proposed deal is not just another form of SAA bailout disguised as a deal via the Public Investment Corporation (PIC) or other development finance institution (DFI), or yet another enrichment exercise for connected ANC cadres.

Whilst the DA welcomes the fact that on the surface the State is finally apparently giving up control over SAA, we have grave reservations given the lack of transparency regarding the details of the process followed to identify a beneficiary for the 51% shareholding as well as the details of the memorandum of understanding (MOU) or agreement of sale with Takatso.

Gordhan appears to be working with some of his Cabinet colleagues to ensure that the SAA/Takatso deal circumvents regulatory processes and remains covered in secrecy. Recent media reports indicate that the Minister of Transport, Fikile Mbalula, has deliberately failed to appoint council members for South Africa’s International Air Licensing Council and the Domestic Air Licensing Council to prevent scrutiny of SAA’s continued existence as a viable business entity.

Gordhan is now obliged, under the provisions of the PAIA Act, to provide the DA with a copy of the sale of agreement within 30 days. Obtaining access to the sale of agreement, will be a critical first step in ensuring that the South African taxpayer is not being saddled with unnecessary financial obligations under the SAA/Takatso deal

Issued by Alf Lees, DA Member of the Standing Committee on Public Accounts, 8 March 2022