SOUTH African Airways’ (SAA’s) precarious financial position was laid bare in the High Court in Pretoria on Tuesday as competitor Comair challenged the financial assistance provided by the government to prop up the struggling airline.Comair, the JSE-listed British Airways franchisee that operates kulula.com, argued the government was using the guarantees it gives to SAA as a "device" to raise funding from commercial banks and delaying the payments it would eventually make on behalf of the airline.Comair said SAA would never be able to meet its debt obligations and was instead raising debt against fresh guarantees to pay for interest on older debt.Legal council for Comair, David Unterhalter SC, said the Treasury was "binding the hands of Parliament" by effectively giving SAA a cash injection, without tabling the decision in Parliament.In 2013 Comair challenged the R5bn government guarantee given to SAA and began legal proceedings against the airline. It also voiced its discontent whe...
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