LETTER: Sale of public assets

I suggested in a letter Business Day published three years ago that “having regard to the billions of taxpayer money invested in SAA, it is incumbent on government to provide absolute transparency to the citizens of this country and reveal full details of the (SAA/Takatso) sale of shares agreement, the valuations agreed upon, the players involved, their backgrounds and credentials and all terms and conditions attached thereto including guarantees from all parties and nonperformance sanctions. Given the mendacity of the ANC government, this transparency should not be provided by it alone but by a fully independent private sector or NGO financial audit” (“Keep tabs on ANC shift”, June 20 2021).

A matter of weeks ago public enterprises minister Pravin Gordhan announced that the confidential and secret negotiations were all above board (“No sign of corruption in SAA sale to Takatso, says legal adviser”, March 7). Then less than a week later he abruptly told the country that the SAA-Takatso deal was off (“SAA’s R3bn deal with Takatso falls apart”, March 13).

These recent developments have triggered new and serious concerns about the integrity and ethics of the whole process, and the public and media are speculatively connecting their own dots. They need convincing that this controversial transaction involving the sale of public assets does not involve the typical underhand wheeling and dealing of government officials and the private sector intended to yet again financially benefit the ANC and its cadres.

My call in 2021 for a “fully independent private sector or NGO financial audit” seems more appropriate and urgent now than ever before.

David Gant
Kenilworth

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