The South African Federation of Trade Unions (SAFTU) 𝗰𝗼𝗻𝗱𝗲𝗺𝗻𝘀 𝗣𝗿𝗮𝘃𝗶𝗻 𝗚𝗼𝗿𝗱𝗵𝗮𝗻’𝘀 𝘁𝗮𝗰𝘁𝗶𝗰𝘀 𝗼𝗳 𝘀𝗲𝗲𝗸𝗶𝗻𝗴 𝘁𝗼 𝗸𝗲𝗲𝗽 𝘀𝗲𝗰𝗿𝗲𝘁 𝘁𝗵𝗲 𝗮𝗳𝗳𝗮𝗶𝗿𝘀 𝗼𝗳 𝘁𝗵𝗲 𝗦𝗼𝘂𝘁𝗵 𝗔𝗳𝗿𝗶𝗰𝗮𝗻 𝗔𝗶𝗿𝘄𝗮𝘆𝘀 (𝗦𝗔𝗔) 𝗿𝗲𝗴𝗮𝗿𝗱𝗶𝗻𝗴 𝘁𝗵𝗲 𝘀𝗮𝗹𝗲 𝗼𝗳 𝗮 𝟱𝟭% 𝘀𝘁𝗮𝗸𝗲 𝘁𝗼 𝗧𝗮𝗸𝗮𝘁𝘀𝗼 𝗖𝗼𝗻𝘀𝗼𝗿𝘁𝗶𝘂𝗺. Minister Gordhan wrote to the Parliamentary Committee seeking non-disclosure from members of the Portfolio Committee so that whatever he reports on is kept secret.
Members of the media were barred from the parliamentary session where he was reporting on the SAA affairs. The constitution of South Africa provides that parliamentary sessions must be public. Exception should only be made where it is “reasonable and justifiable”.
𝗪𝗲 𝗰𝗼𝗻𝘁𝗲𝗻𝗱 𝘁𝗵𝗮𝘁 𝗵𝗶𝗱𝗶𝗻𝗴 𝘁𝗵𝗲 𝗮𝗳𝗳𝗮𝗶𝗿𝘀 𝗼𝗳 𝗦𝗔𝗔 𝗼𝗿 𝗮𝗻𝘆 𝗦𝘁𝗮𝘁𝗲 𝗢𝘄𝗻𝗲𝗱 𝗘𝗻𝘁𝗲𝗿𝗽𝗿𝗶𝘀𝗲 (SOE) from the public is not reasonable and justifiable, primarily 𝗯𝗲𝗰𝗮𝘂𝘀𝗲 𝘁𝗵𝗲𝘀𝗲 𝗮𝗿𝗲 𝗽𝘂𝗯𝗹𝗶𝗰 𝗰𝗼𝗺𝗽𝗮𝗻𝗶𝗲𝘀 𝗮𝗻𝗱 𝘀𝗲𝗰𝗼𝗻𝗱𝗮𝗿𝗶𝗹𝘆 𝗯𝗲𝗰𝗮𝘂𝘀𝗲 𝘄𝗲 𝗮𝗿𝗲 𝗯𝗮𝗻𝗸𝗿𝗼𝗹𝗹𝗶𝗻𝗴 𝘁𝗵𝗲𝗺. Therefore, 𝘁𝗵𝗲 𝗯𝗲𝗵𝗮𝘃𝗶𝗼𝘂𝗿 𝗮𝗻𝗱 𝗮𝘁𝘁𝗶𝘁𝘂𝗱𝗲 𝗼𝗳 𝗠𝗶𝗻𝗶𝘀𝘁𝗲𝗿 𝗚𝗼𝗿𝗱𝗵𝗮𝗻 𝗺𝘂𝘀𝘁 𝗯𝗲 𝗰𝗼𝗻𝗱𝗲𝗺𝗻𝗲𝗱 𝘄𝗶𝘁𝗵 𝘁𝗵𝗲 𝗰𝗼𝗻𝘁𝗲𝗺𝗽𝘁 𝗶𝘁 𝗱𝗲𝘀𝗲𝗿𝘃𝗲𝘀.
𝗦𝗔𝗙𝗧𝗨 𝗶𝘀 𝗱𝗶𝘀𝗮𝗽𝗽𝗼𝗶𝗻𝘁𝗲𝗱 𝘁𝗵𝗮𝘁 𝗺𝗲𝗺𝗯𝗲𝗿𝘀 𝗼𝗳 𝘁𝗵𝗲 𝗣𝗮𝗿𝗹𝗶𝗮𝗺𝗲𝗻𝘁𝗮𝗿𝘆 𝗖𝗼𝗺𝗺𝗶𝘁𝘁𝗲𝗲 𝗼𝗻 𝗣𝘂𝗯𝗹𝗶𝗰 𝗘𝗻𝘁𝗲𝗿𝗽𝗿𝗶𝘀𝗲𝘀 𝗮𝗰𝗰𝗲𝗱𝗲𝗱 𝘁𝗼 𝘁𝗵𝗶𝘀 𝘂𝗻𝗿𝗲𝗮𝘀𝗼𝗻𝗮𝗯𝗹𝗲 𝗿𝗲𝗾𝘂𝗲𝘀𝘁 𝗼𝗳 𝗲𝘅𝗰𝗹𝘂𝗱𝗶𝗻𝗴 𝘁𝗵𝗲 𝗽𝘂𝗯𝗹𝗶𝗰. Journalistic media is the watchdog of society. It gathers and reports news and asks questions on public affairs. By chasing the media out, they denied the more comprehensive public access to the proceedings and the information they have a right to.
His continued determination to hide SAA’s affairs after Takatso Consortium acquired a stake in the company raises alarm and speculation. It could be that he is shielding corruption or that the sale of the 51% stake was unnecessary. 𝗦𝗔𝗙𝗧𝗨 𝗼𝗽𝗽𝗼𝘀𝗲𝗱 𝘁𝗵𝗲 𝗽𝗮𝗿𝘁𝗶𝗮𝗹 𝗽𝗿𝗶𝘃𝗮𝘁𝗶𝘀𝗮𝘁𝗶𝗼𝗻 𝗼𝗳 𝗦𝗔𝗔 𝗮𝘀 𝗮 𝗺𝗮𝘁𝘁𝗲𝗿 𝗼𝗳 𝗽𝗿𝗶𝗻𝗰𝗶𝗽𝗹𝗲
It appears that Takatso Consortium has not made the capital advance it had reportedly committed towards capitalising SAA after acquisition. In that case, SAA’s only source of capitalisation is the state. This nullifies the reasons Minister Gordhan advanced when he anchored its sale to Takatso Consortium. If government is the only party carrying the greatest portion of investments in SAA, then there was no need for its partial privatisation in the first place.
