Mail & Guardian reports that Public Enterprises Minister Pravin Gordhan will be called to appear before parliament to respond to claims by the department’s suspended director general, Kgathatso Tlhakudi, of impropriety in the SAA/Takatso Aviation deal.

Tlhakudi, who was suspended last year, claimed in a protected disclosure and in a letter to parliamentary speaker Nosiviwe Maphisa-Nqakula last week that SAA had been undervalued by R7 billion as part of the takeover of the national carrier by the Takatso consortium. He also claimed that he was being targeted because of a protected disclosure about the deal and that the new SAA board was being appointed to cover up the undervaluation and to force through the deal. On Wednesday, parliament’s public enterprises portfolio committee decided to call Gordhan and Tlhakudi to its next meeting to investigate the veracity of the allegations. Committee chairperson Khaya Magaxa said he would “fast track” the process to allow both to make representations and be “interrogated” on the matter by MPs on the committee, after which a decision would be taken on the next step. The meeting is expected to take place by Friday next week. The SAA deal has been dogged by controversy since the public enterprises department announced two years ago that it had chosen the Takatso consortium as its equity partner to take over 51% of SAA, which had been placed under business rescue. The opacity of the deal has been criticised by trade unions, opposition parties and now Tlhakudi,

• Read the full original of the report in the above regard by Paddy Harper at Mail & Guardian (subscriber access only)

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