Holomisa puts legal challenge against SAA deal on ice for now

JOHANNESBURG - Bantu Holomisa, the leader of the United Democratic Movement (UDM), says his party has stayed its bid to challenge the state's plan to sell a majority stake in SAA to the Takatso consortium after President Cyril Ramaphosa said the plan was not yet a done deal.

Holomisa announced last week that the UDM was meeting with its lawyers to challenge  the inclusion of Harith General Partners in the consortium named as the preferred strategic equity partner for struggling national flag carrier.

Harith at the time hit back against the UDM leader, saying his threats of legal action were just the latest in a long line of unsubstantiated allegations against it.

But the UDM leader said on Friday that the party had "changed route," at least temporary, as the sale has not been concluded.

Holomisa  referenced remarks  made by President

Ramaphosa on Tuesday last week, where he said that due diligence was still being undertaken.

The Department of Public Enterprises (DPE) has also said that a "definitive sale and purchase agreement" will only be concluded once this process is completed.

With the legal challenge on ice, Holomisa has written to Parliament's Standing Committee on Public Accounts (Scopa) to ask for hearings into the deal, where he wants state- run asset manager the Public Investment Corporation (PIC) to give evidence.

Harith and the PIC have a tangled history, and the Mpati Commission into the asset manager recommended that their relationship be investigated as it gave Harith "easy access to money."

He also wants evidence about the value of the airline.

"The question therefore is: how much is this 51 percent stake in SAA actually worth?" he writes in his letter.