Johannesburg - Ailing SAA has been taken to the Supreme Court of Appeal (SCA) by another struggling airline, SA Airlink.
SAA’s business rescue practitioners Siviwe Dongwana and Les Matuson this week announced to affected persons that SA Airlink had been granted leave to appeal the South Gauteng High Court’s ruling that it was owed more than R510 million by the national carrier.
SA Airlink had claimed that it was owed the money for ticket sales and wanted the court’s permission to sue SAA, which has been under business rescue since December.
Judge Fayeeza Kathree-Setiloane dismissed SA Airlink’s application with costs earlier this month.
On Thursday, Dongwana and Matuson announced SA Airlink’s decision to appeal Kathree-Setiloane’s entire ruling that was granted on March 13.
SA Airlink delivered notice of appeal to the SCA on Tuesday last week.
The business rescue practitioners have promised that they will provide monthly updates on the airline’s SCA appeal.
According to correspondence seen by Independent Media, Dongwana and Matuson have also been granted permission to extend the date for the submission of their plan.
The Companies Act requires that a business rescue plan be published within 25 days after the appointment of practitioners or such longer time as may be allowed by the courts or holders of the creditors’ voting interests.
Last week, the pair indicated they would need another two months to present their plan to save the airline.
“Given the early stages of Covid-19 and the measures implemented by Cabinet, the practitioners are of the view that this assessment will not realistically be finalised before 31 March 2020,” they said.
President Cyril Ramaphosa declared a national state of disaster two weeks ago over the outbreak of the deadly coronavirus outbreak.
The National Union of Metalworkers of SA (Numsa) has warned that the country is confronted with Covid-19 at a time when its state-owned enterprises are on the brink of collapse.
“What this means is that power, transport and the security of the country is vulnerable and we will be facing retrenchments on a mass scale, further exacerbating the unemployment levels in South Africa,” the union stated.
Numsa and the SA Cabin Crew Association have demanded that Dongwana and Matuson disclose all relevant documentation to allow workers to engage in meaningful consultation during the business rescue process and for workers to be consulted as well as allow employees sufficient opportunity to review the plan in order to make submissions or propose alternatives.