SAA like trying to decipher an egg, Denel basically looted, Parliament listens

The SIU has a budget of R10 million for the Denel investigation and R30 million for the SAA investigation.

Special Investigation Unit (SIU) investigations carried out at state entities (SOE) South African Airways (SAA) and Denel are like trying to decipher a scrambled egg, according to Mkhuleko Hlengwa (IFP), chairman of the Standing Committee on Public Affairs of Parliament. Accounts (Scopa).

The SIU informed Scopa on Wednesday via a virtual forum on the progress made with its investigations. After the briefings, Hlengwa described the presentations as “depressing.” The SIU indicated that it is still within its budget for the respective investigations, ie 10 million rand for the Denel investigation and 30 million rand for the SAA investigation.

Investigations at SAA span the period from January 1, 2002 to January 31, 2020. Scopa heard that, technically, SAA is basically insolvent in terms of liquidity. The national airline has been in dire financial straits for years and has not presented financial statements. The SIU says it has already identified “several employees” whose actions could have been questionable.