AS Minister Pravin Gordhan is expected to appear before the Portfolio Committee on Public Enterprises behind closed doors on Wednesday, 6 March, the National Union of Metalworkers of South Africa (Numsa) is demanding for documents to be shared in public.
The meeting is scheduled to discuss the evidence submitted to the Parliamentary legal advisor on the allegations of irregularity on the 51% sale of South African Airways (SAA) to the Takatso Consortium.
Numsa general-secretary Irvin Jim said the union was calling on Members of Parliament on the portfolio committee to disclose and share with the public the documentation because the citizens deserved to know what happened.
He said: “Gordhan has not been forthright and has deliberately been hiding information of this deal after he seemingly, single-handedly picked Takatso as the preferred equity partner without following any transparent public process.
"The 51% stake in SAA was awarded to Takatso only six weeks after the airline emerged from business rescue. Takatso promised to inject R3 billion into SAA, but that has not yet happened. The media has reported that SAA was sold for a measly R51 and this is why the deal must be investigated.”
The committee is investigating the deal which resulted in Takatso being chosen as the preferred equity partner to own a majority share of the airline.
Jim said Numsa has also noted the belligerent arrogant attitude that Gordhan has had in relation to this deal.
“According to an article published by Business Report: 'Gordhan has tried to strong-arm the committee into signing an NDA before accessing the documents'. Numsa has noted that the minister had the audacity to demand that MPs must sign nondisclosure agreements when dealing with the documentation. He also requested that the meeting be held in secret. This is an outrageous demand and it must be condemned with the contempt that it deserves,” said Jim.
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He said this was ironic that Gordhan, who built his reputation on good governance and integrity, is behaving like a common criminal by refusing to publicly disclose information regarding the sale of SAA.
He pointed out that what they know was that SAA is not profitable and has shown that it is financially viable.
“In other words, it has shown that it does not need government to bail it out. So why is it important to continue with an equity partner for SAA? The Takatso Consortium is being given an airline by Gordhan. Takatso promised to invest R3 billion over three years, but no money has been paid so far, so why have they been chosen to be an equity partner?
"Is it possible that other buyers were willing and able to pay money for the airline, if so, who are they and why were they not considered for the deal? We have the right to know what process DPE followed in shortlisting Takatso as the preferred partner above all other potential bidders? These are all questions which the public deserves answers to because SAA remains a publicly owned entity,” he said.
Jim said they also demand that any future meetings on the matter must be made public.
“We reject any secrecy. We reject any attempts by Gordhan to compel Parliament into rubber stamping his irregular behaviour. We demand answers on the SAA deal and we demand them now,” he said.
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