South Africa’s Public Enterprises Minister Pravin Gordhan has dispelled fears over the deal between South Africa’s national carrier SAA and the Takatso Consortium, stating that things are on course and will go ahead despite the resignation of a key member of the Consortium’s board.
Syranix’s nominated director, Gidon Novick, of the Takatso Consortium, resigned recently, leading to uncertainty about whether the deal with the national carrier will go ahead as expected.
According to Gordhan, Novick’s exit is an internal matter, and the deal is on course—alive and live. He described Novick as a small and relatively minor party whose exit cannot break the deal. His exit does not discredit anyone else working on the deal. Thats the nature of commerce. He ended by promising more information on the transaction in the coming days.
While Gordhan is buoyed with optimism and insists on the deal being alive, Parliamentary Committee Head Mkhuleko Hlengwa believes that the proposed strategic equity partner (SEP) does not have the R3 billion needed to seal the deal.
On their part, members of the Standing Committee on Public Accounts (SCOPA) insisted on the committee getting a full report of SAA’s financials.
It remains to be seen whether Pravin Gordhan’s optimism will translate to a successful deal.
