Committee on Public Enterprises to subpoena Minister on sale of SAA

14 December 2023

The Portfolio Committee on Public Enterprises has unanimously agreed that it is unable to provide unqualified support for the transaction leading to the sale of South African Airways (SAA) to the Takatso Consortium.
 
The committee met on Wednesday to discuss and consider the evidence submitted by both the Minister of Public Enterprises, Mr Pravin Gordhan, and the former Director-General of the Department of Public Enterprises, Mr Kgathatso Thlakudi, on the allegations of irregularities in the transaction.
 
The committee is concerned about Mr Gordhan’s failure to assist the committee in its investigation into the sale, which it had been tasked with. Furthermore, the committee is disappointed and unhappy the Minister’s refusal to provide the committee with two crucial documents that would have enabled it to finalise its investigation.
 
Briefing the committee, Parliament’s legal adviser, Mr Andile Tetyana, said among the reasons given by the Minister for this failure are the confidentiality clauses in the sale documents that were agreed with other parties in the sale. The two documents not supplied by Mr Gordhan are the list of shortlisted entities after the final determination was made and the sale and purchase agreement.
 
As the committee has not seen these documents, it is unable to make a well-documented resolution on the matter. The only documentation available to the committee is that supplied by Mr Thlakudi.
 
The committee Chairperson, Mr Khaya Magaxa, said its report will indicate that the committee did not get the necessary assistance from Mr Gordhan. This report will then be submitted to the National Assembly Speaker, who will determine the way forward on the issue.
 
Some members of the committee recommended that an ad hoc committee be established to investigate the matter. Mr Magaxa said the committee has not pursued legal or other avenues at its disposal. “As a parliamentary committee, the committee has been tasked with a responsibility to do an investigation on this matter and therefore we cannot outsource our responsibility,” emphasised Mr Magaxa. He added that the committee must subpoena the Minister, as it has a right to do so.

Issued by Yoliswa Landu, Media Officer, Parliamentary Communication Services, 14 December 2023