SAA maintains that the reasons for the possible delay in the submission of its financial statements to parliament is not cash flow troubles but a dispute with the auditor-general's office over revenue from expired air tickets.
SAA spokesperson Khaya Buthelezi said yesterday all outstanding financial statements were submitted to parliament in December 2023.
“What is outstanding is the audit and the area of variance is around the treatment of revenue from expired air tickets. That is the only issue we are engaging the AG on. That is the cause of the delay in the finalisation of the audit for the financial year 2023.
“SAA is cash positive, it is a going concern, there is absolutely nothing to be worried about. The business is very strong to the extent that we are launching new routes and acquiring additional aircraft. That is a demonstration of the confidence that our partners have in the business. You cannot acquire new aircraft if your balance sheet is not strong,” Buthelezi said.
He said SAA had increased the number of flights to Mauritius from one a day to two. The airline had also launched a flight to Lubumbashi in the Democratic Republic of Congo.
SAA said on Thursday that there was a possibility of a delay in the audit for financial year 2024 due to a “matter of variance” in the interpretation of some accounting standards regarding the treatment of revenue from expired air tickets.
This forced the minister in the Presidency responsible for state-owned companies, Maropene Ramokgopa, to tell parliament on July 26 that SAA’s annual report to parliament would probably be late.
SAA is cash positive ... there is absolutely nothing to be worried about ... we are launching new routes and acquiring aircraft.
— SAA spokesperson Khaya Buthelezi
In its statement, SAA said its board was working to ensure that the audit for the financial year that ended in March was not delayed by the dispute with the AG. The audit is expected to be concluded by October.
Ramokgopa is required to submit to parliament SAA's annual report and financial statements by September each year.
The airline has failed to submit its financial statements to parliament for four consecutive years. In December, when it finally did, the numbers painted a bad picture. BusinessLIVE reported that SAA suffered combined losses of R23.5bn in financial 2019 and 2020. Fuel costs, aircraft maintenance, employee remuneration and aircraft lease costs ate up most of the company’s revenue in those years.
SAA made a loss before tax of R6.5bn in 2018/2019, R5.7bn in 2019/2020, R7.6bn in 2020/2021 and R3.7bn in 2021/2022. It had total liabilities of R9bn in 2021/2022.
The company went into voluntary business rescue at the end of 2019. The government identified Takatso Consortium as a strategic equity partner but that deal fell through.
The state-owned airline for years enjoyed billions of rand in bailouts from the National Treasury while it was subjected to state capture.
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