The administrators of South Africa\u2019s bankrupt state-owned airline said they see a \u201creasonable prospect of rescuing\u201d it.<\/p>\n
The administrators, known locally as Business Rescue Practitioners, have been at loggerheads with Pravin Gordhan, the minister of Public Enterprises, after they said they wanted to wind the airline down. He accused them of squandering money and a lack of transparency.<\/p>\n
\u201cDiscussions are now being held between the BRPs and the shareholder to possibly restructure the airline,\u201d the administrators said in a statement. \u201cAn announcement in this regard will be made in due course as well as an agreed timeline for the consultation on the business rescue plan.\u201d<\/p>\n
The administrators said to rescue the airline they will need \u201cunequivocal commitment\u201d and \u201cthe requisite funding.\u201d<\/p>\n
The government has said there is no more money available for SAA. The airline has been unprofitable since 2011 and has been surviving on government bailouts.<\/p>\n
In the statement, the administrators rejected allegations made by Gordhan and labor unions. They said they had cut operational costs by R500 million ($29 million) a month and said they hadn\u2019t been able to submit a rescue plan because the coronavirus outbreak had \u201cnullified\u201d their assumptions.<\/p>\n