Minister of Public Enterprises, Pravin Gordhan announced on Wednesday that the deal to sell the Takatso consortium 51 percent of SAA has been terminated.
The deal has encountered many challenges since the first agreement in June, 2021. Among these challenges was the requirement to revalue SAA’s assets due to the extended period of time that elapsed between the initial and final agreement of the sale.
According to Gordhan, he had informed the Cabinet about this on Wednesday morning.
“As a result of various factors, we have come to the point where those negotiations (with Takatso) will no longer continue. Our search for the right partner for SAA will not happen through this process,” he said.
After three years in the making, Gordhan stated that delays and issues with competition policy led to the cancellation of the sale of the majority of SAA shares to Takatso Consortium as a strategic partner.
He stated that the termination was not done under pressure just because it transpired a few months prior to the elections.
“This was not done under pressure. This was a process professionally handled by the department and we came to the point where we say, maybe this is not the best route for SAA to be taken through”
Takatso was supposed to invest more than R3 billion in SAA over the course of three years. New administration will be in charge of managing the efforts to strengthen and stabilise SAA finances as minister Gordhan will be retiring from politics after the elections on May 29.
