Finance Minister, Nhlanhla Nene says a comprehensive approach needs to be taken to ensure the sustainability of South African Airways (SAA).
During the budget vote debate on Tuesday, the Democratic Alliance asked Nene about the legality of a commitment letter provided to SAA.
The letter facilitated the raising of R5 billion for the bridging of the state-owned entity’s finance from banks.
It was recently reported that SAA needed over R21 billion over the next three years to ensure its long-term sustainability.
Nene says he needs to engage with the Public Enterprises Minister to seek solutions for SAA.
He says: “We need to take into account the consequences and every step we take we will have financial consequences. So we are taking a comprehensive approach on state owned entities. We are looking at all of them, SAA and Eskom but a comprehensive approach to the airline is engagements with the Minister of Public Enterprises, looking at its structures and whether we need to invite the private sector to participate because we need to come up with a solution that would address a broader spectrum with SOEs.”
