The Department of Public Enterprises has moved to defend itself against criticism from Parliament that it has been uncooperative in sharing documents related to the South African Airways (SAA) sale.
At the same time, Public Enterprises Minister Pravin Gordhan on Thursday tabled four years of annual reports for the airline in Parliament, which indicates total losses of almost R24 billion over that period.
The department denied deliberately withholding documents from Parliament, saying it will share them once the deal has been concluded.
Parliamentarians voiced their disdain at Gordhan for not sharing a shortlist of bidders and the sale agreement for the private-equity deal with Takatso Consortium.
But in a statement on Thursday, the department said any suggestions that the deal has not been a transparent and fair process are malicious and false.
Public Enterprises Spokesperson Ellis Mnyandu said the department has done everything according to the prescripts of the law.
“There is no information that is within our legal remit to provide on the SAA transaction that the DPE has withheld from Parliament. All our engagements with the Portfolio Committee attest to our commitment to cooperate fully on every aspect of our work.”
The department said that it regularly takes legal advice on what information it can share publicly.
It said it’s never been offered the option by Parliament of presenting the confidential documents in a closed-door meeting.
-EWN
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