𝗦𝗔𝗙𝗧𝗨 𝗪𝗘𝗟𝗖𝗢𝗠𝗘𝗦 𝗧𝗛𝗘 𝗥𝗘𝗖𝗢𝗠𝗠𝗘𝗡𝗗𝗔𝗧𝗜𝗢𝗡 𝗧𝗢 𝗜𝗡𝗩𝗘𝗦𝗧𝗜𝗚𝗔𝗧𝗘 𝗦𝗔𝗔-𝗧𝗔𝗞𝗔𝗧𝗦𝗢 𝗗𝗘𝗔𝗟

The South African Federation of Trade Unions (SAFTU) 𝗶𝘀 𝗽𝗹𝗲𝗮𝘀𝗲𝗱 𝘁𝗵𝗮𝘁 𝘁𝗵𝗲 𝗣𝗼𝗿𝘁𝗳𝗼𝗹𝗶𝗼 𝗖𝗼𝗺𝗺𝗶𝘁𝘁𝗲𝗲 𝗼𝗻 𝗣𝘂𝗯𝗹𝗶𝗰 𝗘𝗻𝘁𝗲𝗿𝗽𝗿𝗶𝘀𝗲𝘀 𝗵𝗮𝘀 𝘂𝗻𝗮𝗻𝗶𝗺𝗼𝘂𝘀𝗹𝘆 𝗿𝗲𝗰𝗼𝗺𝗺𝗲𝗻𝗱𝗲𝗱 𝘁𝗵𝗲 𝗦𝗼𝘂𝘁𝗵 𝗔𝗳𝗿𝗶𝗰𝗮𝗻 𝗔𝗶𝗿𝘄𝗮𝘆𝘀 (𝗦𝗔𝗔)-𝗧𝗮𝗸𝗮𝘁𝘀𝗼 𝗖𝗼𝗻𝘀𝗼𝗿𝘁𝗶𝘂𝗺 𝗱𝗲𝗮𝗹 𝗯𝗲 𝗶𝗻𝘃𝗲𝘀𝘁𝗶𝗴𝗮𝘁𝗲𝗱 𝗯𝘆 𝘁𝗵𝗲 𝗦𝗽𝗲𝗰𝗶𝗮𝗹 𝗜𝗻𝘃𝗲𝘀𝘁𝗶𝗴𝗮𝘁𝗶𝗻𝗴 𝗨𝗻𝗶𝘁 (𝗦𝗜𝗨) 𝗮𝗻𝗱/𝗼𝗿 𝗮𝗻𝘆 𝗹𝗮𝘄 𝗲𝗻𝗳𝗼𝗿𝗰𝗲𝗺𝗲𝗻𝘁 𝗮𝗴𝗲𝗻𝗰𝘆.

In our previous statement, we argued that Minister Pravin Gordhan’s desire to hide the details of this deal, where Takatso Consortium had acquired a 51% stake in SAA, raised “alarm and speculation.”

In the wake of the termination of the deal, we said that “the collapse of the deal is not a silver bullet for Minister Pravin Gordhan evading accountability for the initial purchase agreement. Minister Gordhan must still account for the sale of SAA to Takatso Consortium.” In Parliament last year, the former Director-General of Public Enterprises, Kgothatso Tlhakudi, accused Minister Gordhan of orchestrating the SAA-Takatso deal “in an irregular manner” to “benefit a few privileged individuals who were favoured” by him.

According to Parliament’s press release, the parliamentary committee “agrees with” Mr. Tlhakudi “that Takatso Consortium was not included in the shortlist when the Rand Merchant Bank (RMB) evaluated the expressions of interest from potential strategic equity partners.”

These allegations by someone who oversaw the operations of SAA cannot and should not be taken lightly. We are glad the parliamentary committee is also not taking them lightly. Minister Gordhan’s insistency on hiding the details of the SAA-Takatso deal did not help the situation.

𝗦𝗔𝗙𝗧𝗨 𝘄𝗵𝗼𝗹𝗹𝘆 𝘀𝘂𝗽𝗽𝗼𝗿𝘁𝘀 𝘁𝗵𝗶𝘀 𝗿𝗲𝗰𝗼𝗺𝗺𝗲𝗻𝗱𝗮𝘁𝗶𝗼𝗻 𝗯𝘆 𝗺𝗲𝗺𝗯𝗲𝗿𝘀 𝗼𝗳 𝘁𝗵𝗲 𝗣𝗮𝗿𝗹𝗶𝗮𝗺𝗲𝗻𝘁𝗮𝗿𝘆 𝗖𝗼𝗺𝗺𝗶𝘁𝘁𝗲𝗲 𝗼𝗻 𝗣𝘂𝗯𝗹𝗶𝗰 𝗘𝗻𝘁𝗲𝗿𝗽𝗿𝗶𝘀𝗲𝘀. It will bring us closer to the truth about the conditions surrounding the deal.