Legislation: Parliamentary hearings planned for SAA rescue Bill

A Special Appropriation Bill seeking to settle R5bn in debt incurred by South African Airways will be the focus of parliamentary hearings on 23 November, reports Pam Saxby for Legalbrief Policy Watch.

Announcing this yesterday, a National Assembly Standing Committee on Finance media statement has called for comment within four weeks. Tabled on Wednesday with the Medium Term Budget Policy Statement, the Bill empowers the Minister to impose conditions to be met by the national carrier ‘before any part of the amount is transferred, as well as afterwards. It also provides for the use of any amount transferred on which conditions have been imposed to be stopped, presumably because they have not been met.

In Wednesday’s statement, Finance Minister Tito Mboweni conceded that, despite the carrier’s efforts to cut costs and operate more profitably, it ‘is still loss-making’ – pointing to the need for ‘even more radical measures’. While, in his view, ‘there should be no holy cows’, the Minister chose not to elaborate on government’s intentions other than to say that he is ‘working closely’ with Public Enterprises Minister Pravin Gordhan to ‘limit the fiscal cost’ of government’s latest rescue measures.

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