Finance Minister Tito Mboweni has moved to clarify the hot potato of using more taxpayer funds to bailout SAA, saying the government has not committed to funding for the troubled airline’s restructuring process.
“At this stage, there are various options being considered and no definitive decisions have been taken,” said Mboweni. Siviwe Dongwana and Les Matuson, to implement the business rescue plan by paying the airline’s creditors, funding retrenchment packages for 2,600 workers and restarting commercial flight operations by January 2021.
But Mboweni has disputed this in his court papers, saying “the government has not committed to funding the requirements of the business rescue plan, but has instead committed to mobilising funding for the short, medium and long-term requirements, to create a viable and sustainable new South African national airline”.