Listen: SAA given 90 days to address aviation law breaches

• Author: Moneyweb
• Published date: 16 August 2022
• Publication title: Citizen, The (South Africa)

The consortium issued a short statement today in which it reaffirmed its commitment to complete the deal as soon as possible, and that it is working closely with government to get it finalised

Tshepo Mahloele is with me in studio. He's the chief executive of Harith General Partners and the chairman of the Takatso Consortium. Tshepo, thanks for so much for joining us. What exactly is the status of this transaction at the moment?

TSHEPO MAHLOELE: Ryk, thanks for having me. Perhaps to give a bit of context to the whole process where we are, we are very well aware that it has taken a while since mentioned last year. When you're dealing with some of these regulatory processes that perhaps some of government has to go through, we very well understand that there are bureaucratic processes.

It has also been, I think, maybe to be honest and frank, sometimes a bit frustrating.

However, we have to accept that we have to go through these processes and they are regulatory sometimes. But we have to be very cognisant of them because unless we go through them and do them properly we will fall foul of some of those [processes] that we have to go through and we will be found [wanting]. And we do not want to be found wanting.

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RYK VAN NIEKERK: You want to do it –

TSHEPO MAHLOELE: Properly – going through those processes. And there are many, if you consider that there are various entities which regulate that process. And from a Department of Public Enterprises point of view, initially between itself and National Treasury, having like whole issues of PFMA [the Public Finance Management Act], and then from all the issues that they have now, which then relate to even SAA as a state-owned institution, it having its own sort of regulatory issues, SAA itself operating within the regulated environment, it having the processes that it must go through itself. So there are all those, and at different times they have to go through that.

The current one which came out last week – if I can just maybe take you through that one – from our point of view we have not as yet concluded the takeover of SAA. That is still a process that is unfolding with government. There are still conditions precedent which have to be met with government. And at the moment we are still going through [the] Competition Commission.

Until some of those processes go through, we are not in a position whereby even perhaps I think SAA is even in a position to go and file anything, perhaps, with the CAA [Civil Aviation Authority] to say we have concluded a transaction with this, because we have not reached that financial closure yet.

So it's also, I think, a bit odd that perhaps the CAA would say, give us a sale and purchase agreement of a transaction not concluded yet, which is perhaps subject to some of the conditions of the Competition Commission, and saying that you have changed ownership when ownership has not even changed yet. So those are some of the challenges, perhaps, which you see happening and which SAA itself has to go through. It is not the consortium.

And so SAA must go through that. At this stage we are going through Competition Commission processes with our government and that process is proceeding, albeit not as fast as we would've liked. There are many interested parties in that process.

RYK VAN NIEKERK: So you believe the council acted without taking into cognisance that the process of this transaction is very complicated and is taking longer than expected?

TSHEPO MAHLOELE: I am not going to say the council acted in any other way. I think there are other conditions in that letter other than the issue of the Takatso Consortium, because there are issues also of, like, post holders in the letter which have to be attended to.

RYK VAN NIEKERK: Financial position changes?

TSHEPO MAHLOELE: The financial positions and all those issues. Perhaps the Takatso transaction becomes more the one to focus on from a public point of view. But in relation to where the process of the transaction is, I am sure SAA will be able to respond to that. That process is still unfolding at the Competition Commission with the government, and there are still issues still unravelling. We do not know if there are still going to be conditions imposed on the...