The consortium will own a 51% stake in the South African Airways and inject over 3 billion rand ($221.60 million) and government will own the remaining 49%.
This was confirmed by public enterprises minister Pravin Gordhan on Friday.
Gordhan said the government will “not be putting any more money” into the new airline.
“The objective of the partnership is to re-launch a flexible, agile airline that will not be dependent on the fiscus,” he said.
Gordhan assured the markets that the chairperson of the SAA board will be South African and most board members will be South African, with black pilots being prioritised.
He said there will be an evaluation of SAA’s subsidiaries, Mango, Air Chefs, and SAA Technical, as they still require at least R2.7 billion cash injection.
The move could backfire as some workers unions feared the airline was being privatised after thousands of employees were laid off.
Takatso Consortium introduction comes after 19 months of hell faced by SAA, as a result of suffering from declining revenue, deferred payments and the need of restructuring after it was placed under business rescue.
In a statement, co-founder and consortium chair Tshepo Mahloele said it has the experience, expertise and capital to transform SAA into a substantial operating business.
Takatso Consortium, comprises pan-African investor group Harith Global Partners and aviation group Global Aviation.
Image (Ready to take off SAA, has been privatised).
