The struggling state-owned airline is currently under liquidation, but the department has identified a buyer who’s in the process of taking ownership of the airline’s assets.
Public Enterprises Director-General Kgathatso Tlhakudi said that the process should be complete by the end of 2022.
Public Enterprises Director-General Kgathatso Thaludi said that government had committed to providing billions of rands to restructure SAA and now needed to establish a mechanism through which to channel the funds.
In a statement on Wednesday, the department said it was overseeing four phases to complete the process.
Phillip Saunders has been appointed as interim CEO for a new national carrier.
The broke airline went into business rescue in December last year following years of losses and state bailouts.
Numsa and Sacca have been vehemently opposed to layoffs at SAA, but after a meeting with the Public Enterprises Department, the unions believe it’s the best decision for members who prefer the voluntary severance packages.
SAA's business rescue plan published last month proposed that over 3,000 workers at SAA be retrenched.
The department said three shipping lines were cancelling calls to the Mother City or were implementing a congestion surcharge from next month.
About 691 employees have not been paid in full since the end of March. Some of them last week demonstrated outside the Department of Public Enterprise’s offices in Pretoria.
There were reports earlier that government has agreed to fund a restructuring of the state-owned airline if a business rescue plan is adopted.
The department of public enterprises said SAA will be dissolved and a new one will be established with new leadership and private sector shareholders, but BRPs want to sell off assets and retrench the entire workforce to pay off SAA's debt.
In its plan, Satawu, which represents workers at SAA Technical, proposes that the airline should explore equity partnerships, which must include employee cooperatives.
It’s up to Treasury and the Public Enterprises Department to decide on a lifeline for the airline which has managed to fly out of a recent strike but not out of its financial woes.
The paper will among others, identify options to resolve the power utility’s excessive debt and outline the process that will be undertaken when the company restructures its units to ensure a just transition.
Denel officials have now met with the Public Enterprises Department and said progress has been made in turning around the state-owned enterprise.
The Department of Public Enterprises spokesperson Adrian Lackay said several problems are plaguing the power utility, including the lack of quality coal and a staff shortage.
Public Enterprises Minister Pravin Gordhan says the situation will be assessed over the next ten days to find a lasting solution to avoid load shedding.
