The Department of Public Enterprises says the claims of non-cooperation with Parliament’s Portfolio Committee on Public Enterprises investigation into the Strategic Equity Partnership transaction for South African Airways (SAA) are false.
This after the committee indicated that it would subpoena Minister Pravin Gordhan to appear before the committee following claims by Parliament’s legal services that Gordhan had refused to comply with its investigation into allegations of irregularities in the evaluation of a preferred bidder.
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In a statement, the department says any assertions that the proposed purchase of the 51% stake in SAA by the Takatso Consortium was not conducted in a transparent and fair process, are malicous and false.
Spokesperson for the department, Ellis Mnyandu, says, “Any attempts to continue casting aspersions about the integrity of the transaction are meant to sidetrack the public from the hard work that has gone into saving SAA and reviving it into a financially sound and viable national carrier that we can all be proud of. There is no information that is within our legal remit to provide on the SAA transaction that the DPE has withheld from Parliament. All our engagements with the Portfolio Committee attest to our commitment to cooperate fully on every aspect of our work. The Department of Public Enterprises (DPE) has reiterated the important role of Parliament to conduct oversight and demand accountability, but it refutes claims of non-cooperation with the Portfolio Committee on Public Enterprises.”
