Solidarity applies to place SAA under business rescue
Labour union Solidarity has lodged an application with the South Gauteng High Court in Johannesburg to place state-owned airline South African Airways (SAA) under business rescue.
It is currently in talks with two unions on the seventh day of a national strike that has further crippled SAA operations.
SAA is estimated to have an accumulated debt of over R20billion.
Solidarity announced on Thursday morning that it has served the court papers on SAA and the ministers of finance and public enterprises.
Solidarity's legal head, Anton Van der Bijl, reaffirms that placing SAA under business rescue will kick-start its rehabilitation.
"We have requested for an urgent court date, we presume will happen within this year, possibly December," adds Van der Bijl.
"Just in terms of what business rescue is and what it is not, it's not the application for the termination or liquidation of a company," states Van der Bijl.
Connie Mulder, head of the Solidarity Research Institute, says an assessment made by a business rescue practitioner is the next viable option to save the airline and the jobs of its personnel.
READ: Unions and SAA to resume wage talks
He adds that the business rescue processes will reveal the actual financial situation at the embattled SAA.
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