Sipho Sono, the business rescue practitioner conducting the rescue process of the defunct government-owned airline Mango, has told The Citizen that Ubuntu Air Services is the preferred bidder presently engaged in trying to purchase the airline, which has been in business rescue since June 2021.
Ubuntu Air Services is a partnership between South African tour operator, AfricaStay, a specialist in Indian Ocean holidays, and DG Capital.
The deal may now proceed, according to the BRP.
But Minister of Public Enterprises, Pravin Gordhan, has previously said he would not be “bullied” into rushing into the sale of Mango.
Gordhan has already put a great deal of effort in trying to block the sale since the announcement that the airline had a preferred bidder, and just last week the latest roadblock went into place – Gordhan lodged an urgent application to the Gauteng High Court in Pretoria to provisionally interdict the sale of Mango Airways. If this is successful, it will force the airline into liquidation, see here.
The Minister had belatedly submitted a petition to the Supreme Court of Appeal (SCA) against a September 2023 decision made by the North Gauteng High Court. This late submission effectively allowed the sale to go ahead.
The Department of Public Enterprises' legal team said there had been valid administrative reasons for the Minister’s delay, and that the appeal was submitted before Sono announced he would continue with the sale.
Sono is adamant that the sale of the airline can now legally proceed, following the Minister’s failure to appeal the Supreme Court decision by the end of January. Sono said he was legally justified in proceeding with the sale.
"An interdict cannot reach into the past and undo this fact,” said Sono.
AfricaStay has a history with Mango. Prior to Mango’s business rescue, AfricaStay would charter flights from the carrier and package them with Zanzibar holidays. The packages were so popular and successful that this led to scheduled services for Mango from Johannesburg to Zanzibar. Once Mango had collapsed, during COVID AfricaStay restarted charters to Zanzibar with another carrier and these have once more been very successful ever since. Travel News contacted Marian Sandu, AfricaStay’s owner and CEO, but he declined to comment while the matter was in court.
