Johannesburg - The recapitalisation of South African Airways (SAA) was an option, but it would be funded off the balance sheet of the troubled carrier and not from the state’s coffers, Deputy Finance Minister Mcebisi Jonas said yesterday.
“If we are going to recapitalise, it will be off balance sheet, it will not be done in such a way that it increases the government deficit,” Jonas told Parliament’s standing committee on finance.
He confirmed that there were “serious” discussions with the National Treasury on how to stabilise the loss-making airline and mooted the prospect of setting up a special financing committee for SAA to help revise its long-term turnaround strategy.
The committee would also look into rationalisation and weigh whether to find a private equity partner for SAA or opt for recapitalisation, and if so “what form it will take and where it will come from”.
Pressed by MPs for time lines, the deputy minister said the new turnaround strategy should be finalised by early next year and SAA should have a new chief executive at its helm by February.
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