Finance Minister Malusi Gigaba recently announced that Vodacom executive Vuyani Jarana had been appointed as the new CEO of SAA. He is expected to take up his new position as from September 1.
Replying to a question by Democratic Alliance deputy finance spokesman Alf Lees about whether Treasury had agreed to pay the loans if they were not extended‚ Dudu Myeni said that while SAA had not received a confirmation from the lenders that they would agree to an extension she did not foresee a refusal.
Engagements were continuing.
Myeni said one of the issues highlighted by lenders when the loans were extended in June to end-September was the instability in management and the absence of a permanent CEO. As Jarana had been appointed‚ she assumed the loans would be extended.
She noted that SAA still had liquidity challenges and had struck repayment plans with suppliers.
Myeni said SAA negotiations with Treasury about the injection of working capital were at an "advanced stage" and SAA was hopeful that it would get state funding.
Deputy Finance Minister Sifiso Buthelezi added that cabinet was seized with this matter and appreciated the challenges faced by the airline which needed to be recapitalised. The undercapitalisation had forced SAA to rely on borrowings‚ weakening its balance sheet.
He said Treasury was committed to dealing with SAA's problems and "will never allow the airline to go under". Neither did Treasury support the privatisation of SAA.
- BusinessLIVE
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