Cape Town - SAA is facing scrutiny as the airline undergoes business rescue, with a report on the process expected soon.
Despite ANC leaders singing different tunes on SAA, the national carrier will appear before Parliament’s finance watchdog on Tuesday.
This follows a meeting last year when the Standing Committee on Public Accounts (Scopa) had demanded answers concerning SAA’s finances.
In the past 10 years it has incurred losses of R28 billion.
Finance Minister Tito Mboweni will next week table his Budget for the year, and is expected to outline plans to fix the country’s ailing state-owned entities (SOEs).
The ANC has put its foot down, saying that SOEs, and SAA in particular, cannot be sold.
Mineral Resources and Energy Minister Gwede Mantashe said recently that SAA should be sold, but the ANC National Executive Committee took a decision that SOEs should be saved.
The National Union of Mineworkers and the SA Cabin Crew Association last Friday lost a court application to force the airline to consult workers before beginning staff retrenchments.
The unions described the judgment as a travesty of justice.
The business rescue practitioners began the process of rescuing the national carrier last year to avoid liquidation.
SAA’s appearance before Scopa today comes after the airline failed to table audited financial statements for two consecutive years. The finance watchdog had demanded answers on this delay.
But SAA had indicated their books could not be signed off because of liquidity challenges.