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The Minister of Public Companies, Pravin Gordhan, has assured the deputies that the state will not return to finance the embattled SAA after its business rescue.
Gordhan was addressing Parliament’s Standing Committee on Public Accounts (Scopa) along with Business Rescue Professionals (BRP) on the progress of the rescue process.
“We have always said, and that has been the mandate of the government, that the government will take responsibility for all restructuring costs. Second, there might be some money available … [and] third, the fiscus will not make any contributions in the future, ”Gordhan said.
The second point concerned the R10.5bn made available by the National Treasury last year.
He was responding to a question from Deputy District Attorney Alf Lees about more state funding after the business bailout process concluded.
The DA has been highly critical of the R10.5bn payment because the country was mired in a financial hole, with the economy deeply constrained by the Covid-19 lockdowns.
Party leaders have repeatedly said that the money could have financed other needs, including the purchase of the vaccine that the country is still struggling to obtain and launch.
“Let me emphasize that the fiscus will not be required to make any contribution in the future because the parallel process that is taking place is the acquisition of a strategic equity partner.
“And with all the stakeholders that the discussions have been with, it has been made clear that once we, as a government, take responsibility for the restructuring costs, the partner has to come up with future capital,” Gordhan said.
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