No Liquidation Order Against SA Express 

12 September 2019

SA Express is not aware of a liquidation order that has been granted against the airline from Mothebe Shuttle Services, as claimed in a Financial Mail article of today.

A spokesperson for the airline also said while SA Express had a contract with Mothebe Shuttle Services for R1,3 million a year, that contract had subsequently been flagged as irregular.

“Mothebe Shuttle Services is among the contracts that were identified by a recent forensic investigation as irregular.

“The investigation also implicated SA Express procurement staff who were later charged with gross misconduct. The airline has since opened criminal cases against the accused.

“The contract has also been reported as one of the irregular contracts to the Zondo Commission of Enquiry,” the spokesperson said.

“Should Mothebe Shuttle Services proceed with the matter against SA Express, the airline intends to respond appropriately within the legal framework,” the spokesperson added.

Elaborating on the case, the airline said Mr Mothebe — the director of Mothebe Shuttle Services — had failed to disclose and declare a conflict of interest based on the relationship that he had with SA Express’ procurement staff responsible for the tender.

“Additionally, there was unauthorised scope and an irregular price increase on the tender.

“While the contract was for R1,3 million a year, SA Express was surprisingly charged R1,1 million for a period of four months — from 1 December 2017 to 4 April 2018 — which translated to R3,3 million a year, which was irregular,” the spokesperson said.

Issued by Mpho Majatladi, Divisional Manager: Marketing, Brand and Product, SA Express, 12 September 2019