National carrier South African Airways (SAA) has postponed its annual general meeting, which would have been held on October 2, as it has not yet finalised its 2014/15 financial statements.
The adoption of the financial statements by government was one of the key items on the meeting’s agenda.
In August, SAA had submitted a request for a guarantee, which was required to enable the company to sign off on its financial statements as a going concern.
Before the request could be considered, Finance Minister Nhlanhla Nene requested that SAA expedite the finalisation of a number of matters that could assist in improving the airline’s financial sustainability and reduce the amount of support required from government.
“The National Treasury is aware that SAA is well advanced with addressing the majority of the outstanding matters,” it said in a statement.
The delay in finalising the financial statements also meant that these had not yet been submitted to the Minister for tabling in Parliament. As the financial statements were not tabled on September 30, as was usually the case, Nene provided a written explanation in this regard to Parliament.
Meanwhile, SAA noted that the process to appoint a permanent board was under way, but had taken longer than anticipated.
“In the meantime, the interim board will continue to lead the organisation until such time as the appointment of the permanent board is finalised,” it said.