Parliament’s Refusal to Account for SAA Takatso Deal

The Economic Freedom Fighters (EFF) notes the withdrawal, by the Portfolio Committee on Transport, of the agenda item on the repeal of the South African Airways (SAA) Bill on the basis that the SAA-Takatso deal has been terminated. While we commend the cancellation of the tainted deal and subsequent withdrawal of the Repeal Bill, we wholeheartedly condemn the deployment of the withdrawal in an attempt to avoid accountability and to stop further investigation into what was clearly an attempt at thievery of a strategic national asset.

The SAA-Takatso deal was, from its inception under the leadership of Pravin Gordhan, characterised by improper ties and gross irregularities. It sought to dispose of 51% ownership of our state airline for a humiliating R51, behind a cloak of confidentiality, and with disdain for proper parliamentary or public scrutiny. This was not a rescue or restructuring offer, it was a pure exercise in asset stripping, driven by those in the Executive who continue even now in their function as agents of privatisation at all costs. As part of that deal, government agreed to repeal the law that governs SAA to make it easier to hand over control to private hands.

The EFF, vehemently objected to this deal. We consistently warned that the sale was fixed to benefit a few over the people of South Africa. Our principled position was guided by the consideration that SAA is a strategic public asset whose positioning in economic development, connectivity, and industrialisation cannot be relinquished to irresponsible private interests.

Therefore, the reversal of the Repeal Bill, along with the withdrawal of the agenda item for scrutiny and discussion in the legislature after the collapse of the Takatso deal, is no victory of transparency, but an exercise in avoidance. It is a desperate attempt by the Ramaphosa regime to close the chapter without responding to the glaring questions still hanging over this exercise. Why was SAA valued at R51? Why was Takatso Consortium selected without an open process? Why had so many of the details of the deal been kept away from Parliament and the public?

The EFF cannot accept that the collapse of the deal automatically brings the matter to a close. In fact, the collapse itself requires an open and full investigation. It is Parliament’s job to decide what went wrong, and how such decisions of national importance had been taken in the absence of openness especially since Takatso had not even been shortlisted. The withdrawal of this Repeal Bill must not be used as an excuse to escape accountability but must increase our resolve to uncover the truth.

The Portfolio Committee on Transport should not develop into a rubber stamp for Executive decisions taken behind closed doors. We therefore demand proper inquiry into the SAA-Takatso saga, with the participation of the Department of Public Enterprises, Cabinet, and all private stakeholders.

This is not simply about SAA. It is about the broad project of defending South Africa’s public patrimony against a coordinated attempt at privatisation in disguise as reform. It is about reclaiming the dignity of Parliament and preventing national property from being sold out the backdoor in the quiet watch of an indifferent legislature. The EFF will continue to battle for complete transparency, for justice in this matter, and for the protection of State-Owned Enterprises from the privatisers and looters disguised as reformists.

The EFF has been criticized for its handling of internal dissent and factionalism.

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