High court orders SA Express be placed under business rescue
According to Ziegler’s affidavit, SAA owed SA Express approximately R20 million before the national carrier was placed in business rescue in December 2019.
An SA Express plane coming in to land. Picture: Twitter
The High Court in Johannesburg has ruled that state-owned airline SA Express be placed under business rescue.
Business rescue practitioners Phahlani Mkhombo and Daniel Terblanche have been placed in control of the airline.
The airline, which has reportedly acknowledged the judgment, has indicated its plans to appeal the finding.
The judgment highlights that there are mounting losses which the airline must confront.
Transport and logistics company Ziegler earlier filed an urgent court application to place SA Express under business rescue, in an effort to recover around R11.3 million it says the airline owes it for services rendered.
The documents further reveal that while SA Express and SAA are separate businesses, SA Express is a creditor of SAA. Business rescue practitioners of SAA have confirmed this.
The court application, filed in the Johannesburg high court on Friday, was deposed by Ziegler managing director Charl du Toit and lists the minister of public enterprises, the finance minister and the Companies and Intellectual Property Commission, among others, as respondents to the application.
Ziegler sought to have Terblanche and Mkhombo appointed as joint business rescue practitioners.
(Compiled by Gopolang Moloko, background reporting: News24 Wire)
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