National carrier SAA may be operational but it, and its subsidiaries, are unable to move forward with its growth plan without finance, according to the Chairperson of Parliaments Standing Committee on Public Accounts, Songezo Zibi .
He was reacting to a briefing by the Auditor-General (AG) on SAAs finances. The AGs office briefed the committee on audits until the financial year ending in March 2022. SAAs 2022/23 audit is currently being finalised and it has so far failed to submit financial statements for its 2023/24 audit.
After the AGs 2016/17 audit of the airlines finances, audits paused due to severe financial difficulties. SAA was placed under business rescue in December 2019 and released to operate again in April 2021. The AGs office then completed the four-year backlog of audits from 2018-2022 simultaneously.
SAA emerged from insolvency in 2022, posting positive equity of R682 million (38.4m) for the first time in five years. However, the AGs office identified several risks in its audit findings around consequence management, executive stability and governance structures.
Lack of funding for expansionThe biggest concern highlighted by the AGs office is lack of funding to implement the airlines expansion plan.
