SA Airways has asked the government for a recapitalisation of about R6 billion to fund operational costs, growth strategy and fleet renewal, according to a report on Wednesday.
The requested funds would be in addition to the R1.3bn subordinated loan SAA already had from the government, Business Day reported.
It also included the company's R1.6bn “going concern” guarantee it obtained to underpin its money requirements after the Auditor General raised concern last year about its ability to generate cash to fund operations.
“This year we will have to go through the same process and the guarantee required will probably be higher,” SAA chief financial officer Wolf Meyer was quoted as saying. He was addressing Parliament's public enterprises committee on Tuesday.
Meyer said SAA's weak balance sheet would also have to be fixed if it was going to finance growth and fleet renewal, the newspaper reported. - Sapa