South African Airways (SAA) released a statement this week clarifying its decision to obtain a court interdict against several media agencies “to stop their illegal and inaccurate publication of a privileged internal document of a confidential nature.”
Reportedly, the document refers to a deal between SAA and Airbus. The interdict was against BDFM, Moneyweb and Media 24. In addition to preventing them publishing the document, they were also ordered to “remove all references to the opinion including all or any of the contents of the opinion that has already been published on the internet and social media,” explained an article on Times Live.
SAA highlighted that it had been advised by its legal team to make no further public statements regarding the “privileged document” and requested that the media respect this decision.
In a statement released by National Treasury on behalf of Minister of Finance Nhlanhla Nene, it said: “The Minister of Finance has noted recent media reports about developments at SAA. Media reports about the position of the National Treasury and the Minister on the Airbus swap transaction are premature. SAA last week submitted a section 54 application to the Minister, to restructure the Airbus deal. The National Treasury's Fiscal Liabilities Committee is currently studying the application and will make recommendations to the Minister in due course.”
The minister went on to highlight that a decision has not yet been reached on the application by SAA to restructure the Airbus deal.
“The Minister will be looking for a deal that benefits the airline financially, or one that does not leave SAA in a worse-off position. The Minister is also concerned about senior management movements at the airline,” explained National Treasury.
"Leadership stability is crucial to implementing the Long Term Turn-around Strategy so that the airline can return to financial sustainability. I have therefore requested the board to brief me on these developments and their impact on the operations of the airline," said the Minister.