NUMSA is demanding an in-depth SIU investigation into Public Enterprises Minister Pravin Gordhan for the shady Takatso deal

15 March 2024

The National Union of Metalworkers of South Africa (NUMSA) has noted the announcement made by the minister of Public Enterprises, Pravin Gordhan that the deal to sell a 51% stake of SAA to the Takatso consortium, has been terminated. As a union which has been consistently raising the alarm over the secrecy surrounding this deal, we feel vindicated and we welcome the news. NUMSA worked with the South African Cabin Crew Association (SACCA) as a progressive labour block to oppose this deal and to oppose privatization of SAA. We welcome this announcement because we have succeeded in achieving this major milestone, which was to prevent SAA from being privatized.

However, we are not satisfied with the explanation given by Minister Pravin Gordhan on the SAA deal. It is very clear to us that there are a lot of unanswered questions which require an in depth investigation. This is why NUMSA is demanding that the Special Investigating Unit (SIU) must investigate the deal. It doesn’t matter that it has been terminated, it was terminated simply because Gordhan was about to be exposed. More than three thousand jobs were lost to justify the privatization of SAA. Those workers are still suffering and we are demanding accountability for decisions taken by Gordhan. We need to make sure that no other minister abuses his power in the manner in which Gordhan has. We have a duty to protect our SOE’s from malfeasance.

Below are some of the areas that we think the SIU investigation should focus on:

1.     Gidon Novick, founder of Lift, a rival airline to SAA confirmed in an interview on Newzroom Afrika with Xoli Mngambi that they as a consortium, did not initiate the engagement with the Department of Public Enterprises. He confirms that they were approached by an official, of the DPE and invited to bid. This official instructed him to get together with Harith and form a consortium. This is a major red flag because it suggests the deal was dubious from the start. The DPE as the custodian of SAA cannot be the one to approach potential bidders and encourage them to bid. From the remarks made by Novic, it is clear that the DPE engineered the creation of the Takatso consortium by bringing these parties together, and as the public, we deserve to know why. Whose interests are being advanced?

2.     NUMSA has noted that the Business Times published an article this week where the Finance minister Enoch Godongwane confirms that Takatso did not have ‘proof of funding’. Godongwane says in the article,

“We have said thus far, we would need proof of funds. That’s our condition to release further funding to SAA, proof of funds from the equity partner. If they provide that, it may well be that there’s nothing Treasury can do. However, they have got to cross another hurdle because the SAA Act has got to be passed by parliament”.

This is a major red flag! SAA is a major airline that in 2017/2018 was valued at over R14 billion. How can an airline that size be given away to a consortium that has no money! How can negotiations even take place with people who do not even have a red cent to their name? This suggests that there was something very underhanded about this transaction.

3.     We have noted the list of the names of the entities which were shortlisted remains confidential. We demand to know who the other bidders were, and why they were rejected in favour of the Takatso consortium. We also want to see the rationale from the DPE for why these bidders were rejected and Takatso was chosen. We reject Gordhans claim that they ‘had no money’. We do not believe a single word that comes out of his mouth because he has shown himself to be a liar and a bully. He actually tried to bully parliament into keeping the documents of the deal a secret, and we are once again, demanding the Parliaments Portfolio committee on Public enterprises must disclose all of these documents to the public. There is no reason to keep the information a secret because the deal has fallen through. They have a duty to disclose.

Gordhan refused to allow workers to use their pensions to buy a stake in SAA. Surely if an SOE is to be sold, it makes sense to allow workers to own a share in the company. This would have made sense in terms of governments obligations to boost economic development, and create an inclusive economy. A transaction for the sale of SAA where workers are shareholders would have been far more beneficial to the public, than this shady Takatso deal.

Based on what we have stated above, it seems obvious that Gordhan got personally involved and handpicked the people to buy a majority share of SAA. This is corruption and we reject his claims that his hands are clean on this deal. People who have nothing to hide, hide nothing! Gordhan has been hiding the truth from the public on SAA and now that his attempts to ram this shady deal through have failed, he chooses to retire. He is running away from accountability.

NUMSA is demanding that the money which DPE promised to SAA must be found. Gordhan promised that Takatso would fund the airline to the tune of R3 billion. That was the justification for this shady Takatso deal. Now that the deal has collapsed, the DPE will have to find that money. We are demanding that DPE must find that money because if they don’t, then SAA will collapse. This funding remains the responsibility of the DPE because they made it a condition of the deal. They do not get to walk away without guaranteeing that SAA will get those monies. We will not allow them to collapse this airline, because of Gordhans corruption.

Thousands of lives have been destroyed because of Gordhan. As an individual we hold him personally responsible for the country’s poor economic performance for the last six years as DPE minister. He interfered at Eskom by bringing in the private sector through the Renewable Energy IPP’s. Our energy generation has been privatized, thanks to Gordhan. We are paying exorbitant electricity costs to fund the grossly expensive REIPP’s which benefit only the private sector, and those REIPP’s cannot help us to end loadshedding. Gordhan closed a functioning coal fired power station, at a time when we desperately needed reliable electricity.

There are thousands of families whose livelihoods were destroyed by this man. There must be no peace for Gordhan because of the intense suffering that he inflicted on our members and the working class in general. What is truly painful, is that our members were sacrificed, in their thousands, for a deal which failed to materialize. Gordhan must pay for the misery he caused workers at SAA and at all other SOE’s.

The struggle continues!

Issued by Irvin Jim, NUMSA General Secretary, 15 March 2024