Gordhan accused of corruption by Numsa
THE Takatso/SAA deal has once again come under fire after the National Union of Metalworkers of SA (Numsa) accused Minister of Public Enterprises (DPE) Pravin Gordhan of corruption.
In a statement released on Friday, Numsa spokesperson Phakamile 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 (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 ... 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.
“Secondly, 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 Hlubi-Majola.
“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 were the right organisation to choose as an equity partner,” 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.
“Numsa says it has written to Scopa to stop the corrupt transaction involving SAA and the Takatso Consortium. We made an error. We stated that a letter had been sent to Scopa, when in fact it was emailed to the chairperson of the portfolio committee on public enterprises, the Honourable Khayalethu Magaxa, on April 30,” she said.