Photo by: Creamer Media
State-owned South African Airways (SAA) has failed to comply with the law by failing to submit yearly financial statements for two consecutive years – 2017/18 and 2018/19.
The Standing Committee on Public Accounts (Scopa) on Wednesday said in a statement that it did not accept the assertion by SAA that it was not prepared to shoulder risks associated with a disclaimed audit opinion from the Auditor-General (AG).
“SAA does not have the pleasure of choosing whether it wants to follow the law or not. As a State-owned entity, SAA is obliged to submit yearly financial statements on time, despite the consequences, to enable Parliament to conduct its oversight,” said Scopa.
The committee notified SAA that it had to come up with a detailed roadmap to show when it would submit the outstanding yearly financial statements.
Failing to do so, Scopa will set a deadline for SAA for submission.
Should SAA not submit the financial statements, it constitutes noncompliance with the Public Finance Management Act and also robs Parliament of its mandate to conduct oversight over SAA’s performance, the committee stated.
Moreover, Scopa also asked the airline to submit several documents that SAA had said had led them to this point, and requested the SAA board to submit the legal opinion that states that business rescue is not an option for SAA.
These documents, as well as the roadmap, were expected to be submitted by 12:00 on November 20.
Scopa will engage with SAA, the Department of Public Enterprises, the National Treasury and the AG about SAA’s reasons for non-submission. This meeting will take place on November 27.
During this meeting, the committee expects progress reports and commitments on the issues raised by it to date.
Embattled SAA earlier this week announced plans to restructure the airline and to retrench about a fifth of its employees in the process.