Stake in SAA should be offered to local investors: ANC

The African National Congress (ANC) says any stake in South African Airways should be given to local investors.

On Monday, President Cyril Ramaphosa told a gathering of investors at the Financial Times Africa Summit in London that government was engaged in talks with potential strategic equity partners in the national carrier.

He said they were also looking at foreign investors who were interested in partnering with government to save the embattled airline.

However, ANC Acting Spokesperson Dakota Legoete says although they welcome foreign direct investment, locals must be given the priority in investing in state-owned entities.

“In our understanding, as a movement, when we talk of equity partners, the priority that we had was South Africans. South African working class and their pensions. Part of what we are looking at is either to get taxi associations, stokvels, burial societies, farmers’ unions, farmers’ organisations and other economic sectors and people with interest to invest directly as equity partners on some of the state-owned enterprises. So that at the end of the day the majority shareholders in any state-owned enterprise (are) South Africans, unlike what was done in the Reserve Bank where majority of the shareholders are foreigners. And we are not opposed to that, but it is unfair for us, 25 years into democracy.”

Meanwhile, the ANC says whatever assistance the country will seek from the US should be defined through bilateral relations with clear terms of reference instead of allowing another country to undermine South Africa’s territorial independence.

It was reacting to government’s decision to accept an offer from the US Justice Department to provide training and expertise to some including the National Prosecuting Authority (NPA), the South African Revenue Service and the Asset Forfeiture Unit.

Experts from the United States are conducting a two-day workshop for investigators and prosecutors to help them to deal with corruption and money laundering.

Legoete says they welcome the sharing of expertise, but they don’t want this to undermine the independence of the country’s law enforcement agencies.