Airlink pushes to have SAA liquidated

AIRLINK has filed urgent court papers for the provisional liquidation of SAA, the replacement of the current business rescue practitioners, and is trying to stop creditors from voting on the proposed business rescue plan.

The airline has filed an urgent interdict to be heard tomorrow (June 23) in the Gauteng High Court to stop a June 25 creditors meeting from taking place and from voting on the proposed SAA business rescue plan. Part of the application, to be heard in ordinary course, is to have SAA placed under provisional liquidation and to remove the current business rescue practitioners (BRPs). SAA’s BRPs have issued a statement saying they intend to oppose the application and will file an answering affidavit.

Airlink is demanding that the resolution – adopted by SAA on December 5 to place it under business rescue – be set aside, alternatively that the business rescue proceedings are terminated due to the failure of the BRPs to publish the proposed plan within the required time to do so.

Airlink is declaring that there are now “no reasonable prospects” of rescuing SAA; and that the SAA board, at the time that the resolution was taken to put it into business rescue, could not have had reasonable grounds to believe that there were reasonable prospects of rescuing the airline.

Airlink is calling for a ‘rule nisi’ that all affected persons show cause, on a date to be determined by the Gauteng High Court, why SAA should not be placed under final liquidation.

It is calling for the current BRPs, Les Matuson and Siviwe Dongwana, to be set aside or removed; and for the court to appoint an alternative BRP recommended by, or acceptable to, the majority of independent creditors. Alternatively, Airlink wants the SAA board to appoint a new BRP within 10 days of such an order being made.

With its urgent application, Airlink also seeks to stop creditors from voting on the proposed business rescue plan on June 25.  To this end, it is interdicting the BRPs from convening any meeting to consider the proposed business rescue plan; from introducing the proposed plan, inviting discussion thereof and conducting a vote for the preliminary approval of the plan or on any motion relating to or concerning the proposed plan.

SAA and the BRPs have two days to provide Airlink with copies of all minutes from SAA board meetings in which the placing of SAA under business rescue and the prospects of rescuing SAA were discussed.  They are also to provide copies of all correspondence and documents pertaining to instructions or communication from Government or the Minister of Public Enterprises to the SAA board regarding the placing of SAA under business rescue or the prospects of rescuing it.