The South African Federation of Trade Unions (SAFTU) ๐ถ๐ ๐ฝ๐น๐ฒ๐ฎ๐๐ฒ๐ฑ ๐๐ต๐ฎ๐ ๐๐ต๐ฒ ๐๐ฎ๐น๐ฒ ๐ผ๐ณ ๐๐ต๐ฒ ๐ฆ๐ผ๐๐๐ต ๐๐ณ๐ฟ๐ถ๐ฐ๐ฎ๐ป ๐๐ถ๐ฟ๐๐ฎ๐๐ (๐ฆ๐๐) ๐๐ผ ๐ง๐ฎ๐ธ๐ฎ๐๐๐ผ ๐๐ผ๐ป๐๐ผ๐ฟ๐๐ถ๐๐บ ๐ต๐ฎ๐ ๐ฐ๐ผ๐น๐น๐ฎ๐ฝ๐๐ฒ๐ฑ, ๐ฟ๐ฒ๐๐๐ฟ๐ป๐ถ๐ป๐ด ๐๐ต๐ฒ ๐ฑ๐ญ% ๐๐๐ฎ๐ธ๐ฒ ๐ถ๐ป๐๐ผ ๐๐ต๐ฒ ๐ต๐ฎ๐ป๐ฑ๐ ๐ผ๐ณ ๐๐ต๐ฒ ๐ด๐ผ๐๐ฒ๐ฟ๐ป๐บ๐ฒ๐ป๐. This means the privatisation of SAA is failing, and as the trade union movement, we are proud to have been at the center of the opposition to the privatisation of our national airline.
However, 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.
The documents detailing the purchase of the 51% stake that were tabled before the Portfolio Committee on Public Enterprises behind closed doors in parliament last week and other related documents should be made public, regardless of whether the deal is off.
In our statement last week protesting the secrecy the Minister has created around this deal, we speculated that the attempt at concealing facts and details could be due to him โshielding corruption or that the sale of the 51% stake was unnecessary.โ In his address to the media yesterday, Minister Gordhan gave credence to this speculation when he said the assets of SAA have been re-evaluated to R5,5 billion, from R2,4 billion in 2021.
No significant change in the acquisition of new assets by SAA has taken place since 2021, we therefore contend that assets (constituting the 51% stake) that were bought were undervalued. The revision in the valuation of the assets which had enabled Minister Gordhan to sell SAA for a penny has only come because of the pressure put by ourselves, political parties, and other members of the public on the Minister to reverse the privatisation of SAA and reveal the details of the sale to Takatso Consortium.
It also raises suspicion that he is contemplating retirement after the May General Elections when he has to account. Neither his announcement to retire nor the collapse of the Takatso-SAA deal should protect him from scrutiny on the Takatso Consortium. Neither should it be an excuse for him not to account for the deal since 2021. SAFTU demands accountability viz. full documentation and details about the deal.
On SA FM this morning, he invoked his contribution to the liberation struggle, as if it emulates him from corruption nor immunises him against scrutiny and criticism. Calling for Minister Gordhan to be transparent and accountable to the public on this deal has nothing to do with questioning his struggle credentials during apartheid. It has everything to do with transparency and preventing corruption in the public sector. Like other ministers and government officials, he is not immune to corruption. If he has done nothing wrong, he should share all documentation and details relating to the SAA-Takatso deal.
SAFTU ๐ฎ๐ฝ๐ฝ๐ฒ๐ฎ๐น๐ ๐๐ผ ๐๐ต๐ฒ ๐ ๐ถ๐ป๐ถ๐๐๐ฟ๐ ๐ผ๐ณ ๐๐ป๐๐ฒ๐ฟ๐ฝ๐ฟ๐ถ๐๐ฒ ๐๐ผ ๐ฒ๐ป๐๐๐ฟ๐ฒ ๐๐ต๐ฎ๐ ๐ฆ๐๐ ๐ถ๐ ๐บ๐ฎ๐ป๐ฎ๐ด๐ฒ๐ฑ ๐๐ฒ๐น๐น ๐๐ผ ๐ฝ๐ฟ๐ฒ๐๐ฒ๐ป๐ ๐ถ๐๐ ๐ฐ๐ผ๐น๐น๐ฎ๐ฝ๐๐ฒ, ๐ฎ๐ ๐๐ฎ๐ ๐๐ต๐ฒ ๐ฐ๐ฎ๐๐ฒ ๐ฏ๐ฒ๐ณ๐ผ๐ฟ๐ฒ. ๐ข๐ป๐น๐ ๐ผ๐ป ๐ด๐ผ๐๐ฒ๐ฟ๐ป๐บ๐ฒ๐ป๐ ๐ถ๐ป๐๐ฒ๐๐๐บ๐ฒ๐ป๐, ๐ต๐ฎ๐ ๐ฆ๐๐ ๐ฟ๐ฒ๐ฐ๐ฎ๐ฝ๐ถ๐๐ฎ๐น๐ถ๐๐ฒ๐ฑ ๐ฎ๐ป๐ฑ ๐ฟ๐ฒ๐๐๐ผ๐ฟ๐ฒ๐ฑ ๐๐ผ๐บ๐ฒ ๐ผ๐ณ ๐ถ๐๐ ๐ฎ๐ถ๐ฟ ๐ฟ๐ผ๐๐๐ฒ๐. ๐ง๐ต๐ถ๐ ๐ถ๐ ๐ฎ ๐๐ถ๐ด๐ป ๐ผ๐ณ ๐ฟ๐ฒ๐ฐ๐ผ๐๐ฒ๐ฟ๐. ๐ก๐ผ ๐บ๐ฎ๐ป๐ฎ๐ด๐ฒ๐บ๐ฒ๐ป๐ ๐บ๐๐๐ ๐ฏ๐ฒ ๐ฎ๐น๐น๐ผ๐๐ฒ๐ฑ ๐๐ผ ๐บ๐ฒ๐๐ ๐๐ฝ ๐๐ต๐ฒ ๐ฝ๐ฟ๐ผ๐ด๐ฟ๐ฒ๐๐ ๐บ๐ฎ๐ฑ๐ฒ ๐๐ผ ๐ณ๐ฎ๐ฟ. ๐ก๐ผ ๐๐ฎ๐ฏ๐ผ๐๐ฎ๐ด๐ฒ ๐บ๐๐๐ ๐ฏ๐ฒ ๐ฎ๐น๐น๐ผ๐๐ฒ๐ฑ.
Now that it has returned entirely to the hands of the state, those politicians who may attempt to use it as a site for the accumulation of wealth for their cronies must be severely punished.
