The portfolio committee on public enterprises will meet and review confidential information it received on the sale of the majority stake at the South African Airways to Takatso consortium.
Chairperson of the committee Khaya Magaxa said after they met in camera with Minister of Public Enterprises Pravin Gordhan and the legal adviser confirmed that the information shared with them was confidential.
Gordhan had written to Magaxa to say the documents could not be made available publicly because of commercial sensitivity.
Magaxa said on Thursday they have been taken through the documents by Parliament’s legal adviser.
However, they will scrutinise the documents and take a decision.
“During the committee’s engagement with the legal adviser yesterday, he confirmed that the information before them is confidential. The committee will now review the information provided in a closed session, specifically the Single Source Provider Application,” said Magaxa.
“This is due to the ongoing nature of the transaction and the absence of definitive outcomes. The committee has received the legal advice it sought and will now deliberate on how to proceed with the information under the proposed confidentiality regime. It will schedule another meeting to finalise the matter.”
He added that they had received the documents from Gordhan.
As Gordhan had argued that the documents were confidential the committee asked the legal adviser to view them.
“According to the documentation provided to the committee, it is evident that Takatso Consortium was not included in the shortlist when the RMB evaluated the expressions of interest from potential SEPs (strategic equity partners). The evaluation phase identified ASL Blue Sky Consortium and Fairfax Consortium as the most promising, but their inability to provide proof of funding hindered their selection. As a result, no suitable SEP with funding evidence could be found.”
But the transaction adviser Rand Merchant Bank pulled out of the contract and the department took over the process.
Both ASL Blue Sky and Lufthansa were disqualified as potential strategic equity partners for SAA.
“Meanwhile, proposals from Global and Harith were rated favourably by the evaluation committee, as indicated in letters from the former DG to both entities, and they were both shortlisted as significant airlines of interest on April 8, 2021. The possibility of combining Global and Harith to complement each other in their long-term strategy was also mentioned.”
Global and Harith, which later became Takatso consortium made an offer to the department that met all the requirements. This included making funding available to restart operations at SAA.
Cabinet then appointed Takatso as the preferred strategic equity partner for the airline.
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