The business rescue practitioners (BRPs) for South African Airways (SAA), Siviwe Dongwana and Les Matuson, have asked creditors for another extension when they were expected to table a rescue plan on Friday 29 May.
The BRPs asked for the deadline to be moved to 8 June 2020 to present the restructuring plan, which has been worked on since 5 December 2019 when SAA was placed in business rescue.
The creditors, commercial banks, aircraft lessors and others, are owed more than R6-billion. A meeting on the request is yet to be scheduled.
If approved, it will be the fourth extension to be granted. The plan was supposed to be published on 28 February 2020 after an initial extension, then on 31 March and then again on 29 May.
The BRPs say they need more time to consult with SAA’s affected parties, including the government, and more than 5,000 employees and other creditors.
Differences of opinion between the BRPs and Public Enterprises Minister Pravin Gordhan on how to rescue SAA have been a significant factor in the delays.
The BRPs want SAA to wind down cutting almost 5,000 jobs to save costs and selling assets to free-up cash and pay creditors. Gordhan wants jobs to be saved and for a new airline to emerge from SAA’s business rescue proceedings. The minister is working on a parallel plan for a restructured, or new, airline with the help of US-based consultancy group Seabury.
The BRPs draft rescue plan should have been circulated to all parties for consultation before 29 May, however, the BRPs’ meeting on Monday 25 May with government officials thwarted circulation.
“The practitioners have decided to prepare a revised plan, taking into account the proposal by the shareholder for creditors and employees to consider,” said the BRPs’ letter.