The Organisation Undoing Tax Abuse (Outa) will consider legal action against South African Airways (SAA) should it not cancel a deal with BnP Capital to restructure R15-billion of debt.
SAA on Sunday said it had put a deal to restructure R15-billion of debt on hold after questions were raised about fee payments to be made to BnP.
Business Day had reported that the airline had agreed to pay BnP R256-million in fees to help it restructure its debt without going through the appropriate tender processes. SAA denied the claims.
In a statement released on Monday, Outa said it had asked the National Treasury to put BnP on its restricted suppliers list, which will bar all government institutions from doing business with BnP.
“Our urgent application to interdict the contract is still ready to be launched if need be. SAA cannot simply put the deal 'on ice', as we maintain [that its] appointment is completely unlawful, even if BnP manages to get the suspension of [its] financial services board (FSB) licence lifted,” Outa director of legal affairs Ivan Herselman said.
Outa will also request the FSB to revoke BnP’s licence for continuing to attempt to transact with SAA, even after its licence had been suspended.
“The medium- to long-term strategy is still to bring the SAA board to book for constant breaches of their fiduciary duties over a protracted period. The current SAA board and its chairperson should resign or be removed by the Minister or a court order, as we believe they are not fit for office and positions they currently occupy,” Herselman added.