Kenyan charter airline Fly-SAX is buying SA Express for R50 million, Parliament has been told on Wednesday.
The East African airline has already paid R24,7 milion of the purchase price.
SA Express has been in provisional liquidation since April 2020.
One of the provisional liquidators of SA Express, Aviwe Ndyamara, has been briefing Parliament’s select committee on public enterprises and communication.
He said Fly-SAX emerged as the preferred bidder for the state-owned airline.
“The sales process has been engaged and concluded. The preferred bidder is Fly-SAX, with a purchase price of R50 million. We have received to date about R24 million, and the outstanding balance still payable is in the amount of no less than R26m.”
Ndyamara said SA Express’s creditors were owed a total of R980 million. It owes the SA Revenue Service R150 million and about R183 million to workers.
This is made up of R81 million in severance packages, leave pay of R43 million and R59 million in outstanding salaries.
“The employees are paid by way of preference, they do enjoy a special preference in terms of insolvency law, but they are only paid once preferred creditors have been settled. At this stage, it is unclear if there will be a residue for payment of the employee claims,” Ndyamara added.
SA Express is the first state-owned entity to be placed in provisional liquidation.
