The South African parliament's standing committee on appropriations has expressed doubts about recovering nearly R1bn owed by Zimbabwe to the national carrier SAA. Committee chairperson Mmusi Maimane made the remarks after a meeting with the department of international relations (Dirco) on the long-running debt saga. Dirco director-general Zane Dangor told the committee that diplomatic efforts had yielded little result.
The Zimbabwean government owes SAA R942m in accumulated ticket sales revenue. Despite escalating the matter to the highest levels between Harare and Pretoria, the money has not been returned to SAA's coffers. Dirco has been engaging with Zimbabwe to meet its obligations, but the debt remains unpaid. Maimane questioned the effectiveness of these diplomatic efforts.
Maimane asked Dangor if there was a tribunal or court process to allow SAA to recoup the funds. Dangor explained that Dirco's role was to engage with Zimbabwe to ensure they meet their obligations. However, Maimane remained unmoved, stating that the recouping of funds from Zimbabwe was improbable. He suggested that the South African government might eventually write off the debt.
The debt has been outstanding for several years, and Maimane questioned the logic of maintaining cordial relations with governments that undermine the financial well-being of South Africa's state-owned firms. He emphasized that SAA was in a difficult financial position, complicated by rising fuel prices. Maimane expressed concern that the airline was being run down over time.
Maimane suggested that at some point, SAA and others might need to engage in contractual and legal remedies to recover the debt. He emphasized that talk was cheap, and money was what mattered. The committee has now resolved to get Dirco and Treasury under one roof as part of follow-up efforts to resolve the financial impasse.
The issue is not limited to Zimbabwe, as other countries on the continent and within the Southern African Customs Union also owe monies to several state-owned enterprises. However, the meeting focused primarily on Zimbabwe's debt to SAA. Maimane's committee is determined to find a resolution to the matter.
The outcome of the meeting was a decision to hold further discussions with Dirco and Treasury to explore possible solutions to the debt crisis. The committee aims to ensure that SAA recovers the debt or explores alternative remedies. The airline's financial situation remains a concern, and a resolution to the matter is eagerly awaited.
Key points
- - The South African parliament's standing committee on appropriations believes that R942m owed by Zimbabwe to SAA is unlikely to be recovered. - Diplomatic efforts by Dirco and other departments have yielded little result in recovering the debt. - The committee has resolved to get Dirco and Treasury under one roof to find a resolution to the financial impasse.
