EFF statement on SAA Business Rescue Practitioners paying themselves R200 million

1 February 2021

The EFF is dismayed by the revelations that South African Airways Business Rescue Practitioners have paid themselves about R200 million since their appointment in December 2019, to date. These Business Rescue Practitioners, Les Matuson and SiviweDingwana were appointed by the Minister of Public Enterprises, Pravin Gordhan, in December 2019, in terms of the Companies Act, in order to rehabilitate South African Airways, which was, and continues to be a financially distressed entity.

Instead of turning around the company, and saving the jobs of many men and women whose livelihood depends on the company, these Business Rescue Practitioners have only lined up their pockets, leaving the workers of SAA in an even more desperate situation than they were when the business rescue process started. The whole business rescue process has cost taxpayers R200 million from December 2019 to date.

The business rescue practitioners have been paid almost R60 million from this amount, and the law firm, Edward Nathan Sonnenbergs has been paid almost R46 million, and the rest went to unnamed consultants. A process that was meant to save the company from financial distress is fast proving to be a costly exercise, with very little prospects of actually saving the company.

While this senseless wastage of taxpayer resources is happening, the workers of SAA have not been paid their salaries for almost 9 months, and the airline remains grounded. This has led to unimaginable pain amongst the workers of the company, many of whom have lost their homes, cars, and are no longer able to afford school fees for their children. The South African government has pumped billions of Rands to the airline, and there is little to show for it

The EFF has always argued that the dysfunction at SAA was and continues to be a deliberate ploy by big capital, assisted by their stooges in government, to liquidate the

company and sell it off for almost next to nothing to the white owners of the economy. The aim into strip the entity of all its assets, discard thousands of employees and force them to join the ranks of the unemployed, and then hand it over to the private sector.

This strategy does not only affect SAA, rather, it is a comprehensive strategy to remove State control from all key aspects of the economy. Eskom, Transnet, Denel and many other State-Owned Companies are being deliberately run down, in order to hand them over to those who financed the leadership aspirations of the current crop of leaders in the country. A key figure in this menacing scheme is one Pravin Gordhan, under whose leadership the liquidation of State-Owned Companies is happening. In the discourse about the dysfunctionality State-Owned Enterprises, no one seems to have the required temerity to hold Pravin Gordhan to account. He was there as the Minister of Finance when key decisions were taken about the financing of SAA and other SOE's, he is now there in charge of the demise of these SOE's.

The well-being of workers, the strategic importance of SAA to the South African state, and the centrality of the State to the process of development are of no concern to this crop of leaders in government. Their only preoccupation is taking control of strategic sectors of the economy, and to hand these over to white capital. The EFF, together with some progressive unions, remain the only voices of truth in this matter. We will continue using all means necessary to expose the rot in the governance of SOE's in this country.

We call on the Minister of Public Enterprises to take accountability and resign for the mess he has helped create at SAA. If any fingers must be pointed for the deliberate killing of SAA, those fingers must be pointed at Pravin Gordhan.

We further call on MrRamaphosa to remove Pravin from his position, if he refuses to resign. There is no sound reason to continue with Pravin as Minister, unless it is payback time for his role in raising funds for the CR17 campaign.

We will not even be surprised if all those who have benefited from the business rescue process have donated to the CR17 campaign. These questions will linger until the

criminal syndicate occupying the highest office in the land unseals the CR17 documents with the names of those who funded Ramaphosa's campaign.

Issued by Vuyani Parnbo, National Spokesperson, EFF, 2 February 2021