Parliament’s portfolio committee on public enterprises chairperson Khaya Magaxa has welcomed the scrapping of the South African Airways (SAA) deal with Takatso consortium after months of wrangling.
The deal was mired in controversy after corruption allegations were levelled against Public Enterprises Minister Pravin Gordhan.
Magaxa said on Wednesday the deal was an albatross around their neck and had to be called off.
The committee has been investigating corruption allegations against Gordhan since last year when former Director-General in the department Kgathatso Tlhakudi said there were irregularities in the deal.
Magaxa said they support the decision of Cabinet to call off the sale of SAA to Takatso.
“We are totally in support of the termination of this deal by the Cabinet. It has been an albatross (around our neck) for far too long. It has been a source of disunity and confusion among us as members of parliament who are expected to unite in our endeavour to exercise our oversight responsibility,” said Magaxa.
Political parties said they welcomed the announcement.
However, there were still more questions as Gordhan had refused to answer questions and release documents on the sale of SAA to Takatso Consortium.
Democratic Alliance (DA) members in the National Assembly Mimmy Gondwe and Alf Lees said this was a bad deal from the start.
They said the fact that Gordhan had refused to release the sale of agreement between SAA and Takatso raised red flags,.
They said Cabinet must be held accountable for not exercising due diligence on the sale.
United Democratic Movement (UDM) leader Bantu Holomisa said Gordhan must still answer questions on this deal.
He said the deal was flawed from the start.
IOL Politics