SAA

ASATA in the news: Taxpayers, SAA wants more money

/in ,

South Africans were shocked to hear from Minister of Finance, Tito Mboweni, in his 2021 Budget Review last week, that SAA’s business rescue practitioners (BRPs) were asking for an additional R3,5bn in funding.

“In the 2020 Budget Review, R16,4bn was set aside for SAA over the MTEF (Medium Term Expenditure Framework) period to settle legacy state-guaranteed debt and associated interest costs. Of this amount, R10,3bn was allocated in 2020/21, with R4,3bn and R1,8bn to be allocated in 2021/22 and 2022/23 respectively. The 2020 Medium Term Budget Policy Statement (MTBPS) included an allocation of R10,5bn for SAA in 2020/21. In September 2020, the business rescue plan was amended, and the identified funding requirement was increased to R19,3bn. Of this, R14bn was envisaged to come from government (including the R10,5bn allocated in 2020/21), with the remainder sourced from strategic equity partnerships,” said the Minister in the 2021 Budget Review.

“While reluctantly agreeing to the R10,5bn allocation to SAA, the committee strongly recommends that the Minister of Finance ensures that the National Treasury reviews, in the 2021 Appropriations Bill, the sources from which this money has been drawn and finds alternative sources that do not undermine crucial service delivery and development programmes. The committee will pay very keen attention to this in processing the 2021 Appropriations Bill. The National Treasury broadly agrees with the committee and alternatives will be considered where necessary. The R10,5bn allocation to SAA does not affect allocations over the 2021 MTEF period as it was shifted from funds allocated in 2020/21,” added the Budget Review.

At a press briefing after his Budget speech on Wednesday, the Minister is reported to have said, “There is no allocation in this Budget for SAA. The business rescue practitioners have made a request for R3,5bn. This still has to be interrogated to get to the veracity of it.”

Ceo of Asata, Otto de Vries, confirmed to Travel News that there had been no engagements between the BRPs and the creditors committee since the original BRP was approved in July 2020. He was unaware of any requests for further funding or amendments to the business rescue plan.