Numsa wants Gordhan to answer for Takatso-SAA deal

THE Takatso-SAA deal has once again come under fire after the National Union of Metalworkers of SA (Numsa) accused Minister of Public Enterprises Pravin Gordhan of corruption.

In a statement released on Friday, Numsa spokesperson Phakamle Hlubi-Majola said she was not convinced of the role played by Gordhan in trying to push the transaction through at all costs.

Numsa said it was opposed to the merger between Takatso and the national carrier, saying the process for the merger was not clear.

“First and foremost, we still don’t know what process DPE (the Department of Public Enterprises) followed to identify Takatso out of all the possible bidders as the so-called right partner for SAA as an equity partner. Gordhan has refused to disclose to the public or to Parliament the process that the DPE followed.”

Numsa said there should have been a thorough and transparent process followed in the merger, which was not adhered to.

“Second, one of the things that we find very, very strange is that where in the history of business have you heard of a consortium that has sold a company, certainly a company the size of SAA, based on their potential to raise capital?

“We have been saying that the SAA deal, which Gordhan engineered, stinks of corruption, and we are disappointed that the Competition Commission has decided to legitimise a process that was illegitimate to begin with,” said Numsa’s Phakamile Hlubi-Majola.

The trade union said it had already written to the Standing Committee on Public Accounts (Scopa) to stop the deal because it reeked of corruption.

“SAA exists because of an act of Parliament, and yet the entire process of appointing Takatso remains shrouded in mystery because Gordhan refuses to disclose to the public, or to Parliament, how he came to the decision that Takatso was the right organisation to choose as an equity partner.

“Gordhan has not disclosed the ‘due diligence’ process on how Takatso was chosen; we are simply expected to take his word for it that proper processes were followed, when they were clearly not followed,” Hlubi-Majola said.

She said the union had already written to Parliament urging that it put a stop to the merger between SAA and Takatso Aviation.