SAA still waiting for Treasury bailout

THE NATIONAL Treasury has not given a word on whether it will roll out the urgently required R5 billion guarantee to SAA after the cabinet approved a new board.

Meanwhile, the official opposition said yesterday that it would challenge the appointment of SAA board chairwoman Dudu Myeni in court.

SAA spokesman Tlali Tlali referred all inquiries to the Treasury.

But the opposition said it would lodge a court application this week, seeking the removal of Myeni.

The Treasury did not respond to the questions sent to it yesterday.

In another development, SAA said it had been granted an extension until the end of September to submit its financials in Hong Kong.

The deadline for the Hong Kong route was today, but SAA said it had been granted a three-week extension until the end of September.

SAA has not been able to submit its financials for the past year with Finance Minister Pravin Gordhan seeking several extensions from Parliament.

In his last request in July, Gordhan said the financials would be tabled by midSeptember.

The airline has not been able to submit its financials because it requires a R5bn guarantee to continue operating as a going concern.

It told Parliament in November that it required this guarantee urgently.

Gordhan has insisted that he will not extend any guarantee to the airline unless there is a new board in place.

Last week the cabinet approved the appointment of the 12-member board with Myeni being retained as the chairwoman.

But the Treasury would not say whether it would give SAA the required R5bn. SAA needs the guarantee to complete its financials.

The national carrier also has three weeks to submit the financials to the Hong Kong authorities to prevent being deregistered from flying to the city. It is one of the critical routes for the battling airline.

SAA will go to the market to raise capital once the guarantee has been granted. The new board of SAA was approved by cabinet following months of uncertainty and a stand-off.

Gordhan first asked for an extension to table the financials of SAA in January this year, and had since asked for three further extensions.

It was not clear from the Treasury how soon the guarantee would be granted and if SAA would also meet Parliament’s deadline to table the annual financial statements in mid-September.

The extension granted by the Hong Kong authorities would give SAA some time to get the financials in order. Gordhan is expected to give an indication when he returns from the G20 conference in China.

He is with President Jacob Zuma at the world summit in Hangzhou in China, together with other world leaders.