Cape Town - Parliamentarians were left frustrated as Public Enterprises Minister Pravin Gordhan gave a limited explanation regarding the controversial SA Airways-Takatso deal.
Gordhan and his bureaucratic charges were questioned by the standing committee on public accounts (Scopa) on Tuesday about the transaction in which the Takatso Consortium take over 51% of the state airline’s shares, and the turbulence regarding the transaction, which Gordhan said was still in the pipeline.
The takeover group comprises Global Airways, which owns LIFT airlines and the Harith investment company, while the government will own 49% of the airline. Harith is the more powerful partner in the consortium.
The airline will be sold for a R51 nominal fee in a deal with a condition that the consortium invests up to R3 billion in three years.
Although Gordhan assured MPs that there wouldn’t be a deal if the consortium failed to cough up the R3bn, they were not convinced by the discretion around the deal.
The deal hit turbulence this week with the resignation of one of the partner companies’ directors, Gidon Novick, who cited frustration over the secrecy of the deal – but Gordhan told MPs that Novick was a “small” player in the deal.
Echoing a statement by the consortium on Novick, Gordhan said the resignation scotches fears of conflict of interest in that Novick, through the Lift airline, had pursued business relationships with SAA outside of the SAA-Takatso deal.
Gordhan said it was curious that Novick resigned as a director and not as a partner in the consortium.
Gordhan refused to share the details about the deal, saying it was at a “sensitive” stage.
DA MP Alf Lees said Gordhan had talked about the deal for 18 months “in vague terms”.
He accused the government of treating those who want more information on the deal “with disdain”.
EFF MP Veronica Mente said: “The refusal to give the price of the sale cannot be accepted. (Takatso) hasn’t paid a cent 18 months later.
“As far as I’m concerned, I’m seeing a heist – not a transaction.”
Scopa chairperson IFP MP Mkhuleko Hlengwa said all that MPs demanded was transparency around the deal and they were not pushing for the department to sell the airline or not.