Financial rumbles at SAA

South Africa's public enterprises minister has told the country's parliament South African Airways and SA Express are not going concerns. His remarks came in a letter explaining delays in the carriers' submitting their annual reports.

The minister, Pravin Gordhan, is responsible for tabling the 2018-19 annual statements and audit reports for both carriers six months after the end of their financial years.

Flight Global reported both SAA's and SA Express's financial years ended on 31 March but Gordhan in his letter said the boards “have not been able to finalise and submit" the annual reports within the prescribed deadlines. "Both airlines are experiencing serious financial challenges and are unable to meet going concerns," he is said to have added.

Flight Global said SAA told the minister its newly-appointed interim chief executive and chief financial officers needed more time to hand the information to the auditor general.

It also requested and was granted an extension until the end of next March to the window in which it needs to hold its annual general meeting.

SA Express has similarly been unable to finalise its annual statements "due to financial constraints", the letter says. "[The] government remains committed to find a sustainable solution to the challenges facing the airlines."

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Michael Preston, Weybridge/Cape Town

The elephant in the room is the fraud, corruption, nepotism, state capture and cronyism which have been going on since 1994 and which reached a peak when Zuma was President. The airline is a mess, a black hole, and needs to be run by professionals, not ANC cronies and political appointments.