SAX is collapsing says Scopa

SA EXPRESS has been
unable to satisfy the
Auditor-General that it
can continue operating as
a going concern, while the
chairperson of the Standing
Committee on Public Accounts
(Scopa) says the airline is
collapsing.
“South African Express is
collapsing and we are trying to
rescue it,” Scopa chairperson
Themba Godi, said in a
statement after he met with
the airline’s management and
staff recently.
Its inability to satisfy the
Auditor-General that it can
continue as a going concern
was the reason given by Public
Enterprises Minister, Lynne
Brown, for the failure of the
airline to table its annual
financial statements for the
2016/17 financial year before
the end-September deadline.
The Minister wrote to
Speaker of the National
Assembly, Baleka Mbete,
explaining that the annual
report and annual financial
statements would be tabled
as soon as the going concern
status of the airline had been
resolved and the audit had
been concluded.
SA Express is losing an
estimated US$400 000
(R5,36m) monthly in lease
rates for grounded aircraft that
are not in use, because there
is no money to pay suppliers
for parts to service the
aircraft, and is having to pay
to charter aircraft.
Scopa identified a number of
challenges during the oversight
visit, according to Themba.
“The culture of non-compliance
with the Public Finance
Management Act and Treasury
Regulations was a very big
concern,” he says.
“As Scopa, we are going
to work closely and babysit
this entity until everything
is corrected as we believe
that, to remedy the current
undesirable situation, we
need collective efforts from
everyone involved in order for
South Africans to be able to
see SA Express as a national
asset as opposed to its being
a national liability,” Themba
told TNW.