{"id":97638,"date":"2026-04-23T13:58:41","date_gmt":"2026-04-23T13:58:41","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/south-africa\/all-news\/saa-could-shut-down-within-a-year"},"modified":"2026-04-23T14:02:43","modified_gmt":"2026-04-23T14:02:43","slug":"saa-could-shut-down-within-a-year","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/south-africa\/all-news\/saa-could-shut-down-within-a-year","title":{"rendered":"SAA Could Shut Down Within a Year"},"content":{"rendered":"

Africa-Press – South-Africa. <\/strong><\/span>South African Airways (SAA) could be declared insolvent within the next 12 months, unless it can completely turn around its current liquidity position.<\/p>\n

This was the warning given by the Auditor-General of South Africa\u2019s (AGSA) office on 21 April 2026, as it briefed the Portfolio Committee on Transport on the current financial state of SAA.<\/p>\n

AGSA senior audit manager Thato Kunene described SAA as a going concern with significant \u201cmaterial uncertainties.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cThis means there are certain conditions or doubts that, if they were to happen, mean the entity could close within 12 months,\u201d Kunene said. \u201cIt could be made insolvent, or illiquid.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cThe challenges we picked up were their operating losses, their negative operating cash flows, and indicators of liquidity challenges.\u201d<\/p>\n

The AGSA issued a disclaimed audit opinion on SAA\u2019s 2024\/25 financial results, meaning the results were unreliable and not based on credible figures.<\/p>\n

This marked the seventh consecutive year that SAA received a disclaimed opinion from the AGSA, which is the worst audit opinion that can be issued.<\/p>\n

While the company declared profitability in its latest financial results, Transport Minister Barbara Creecy explained to the Portfolio Committee that this was mainly due to the sale of slots at Heathrow Airport.<\/p>\n

\u201cWhile there was some improvement in passenger numbers and passenger revenue, I think we are still a long way from being a profitable entity,\u201d Creecy said.<\/p>\n

The AGSA flagged irregular expenditure at SAA as a major concern, and said the company did not have adequate accountability measures in place to address this.<\/p>\n

They also pointed out the difficulty SAA faced with repatriating revenue from ticket sales in other African countries, namely Zimbabwe, Malawi, Egypt and Nigeria.<\/p>\n

Approximately R416 million in blocked cash was reported in these countries, on top of an additional R1 billion owed to SAA by Zimbabwe.<\/p>\n

\u201cNecessary interventions must be taken to ensure that those particular funds are recovered from their respective countries as that will boost the liquidity of the entity,\u201d Kunene said.<\/p>\n

Future of SAA remains uncertain<\/b><\/p>\n

Outgoing SAA CEO John Lamola<\/p>\n

The Auditor-General\u2019s findings come during a particularly tumultuous period for SAA with prominent uncertainty surrounding the airline\u2019s future.<\/p>\n

When SAA released its latest financial results on 6 February, it declared a net profit of R155 million and a revenue of almost R9 billion.<\/p>\n

Aviation expert Guy Leitch questioned the veracity of these results, finding the airline was more likely operating at a loss due to their operating costs exceeding their revenue.<\/p>\n

Leitch also pointed out that over R1 billion in shares had been issued to the company\u2019s sole shareholder, the South African government, who denied this as a sign of a state bailout.<\/p>\n

SAA CEO John Lamola announced his resignation from the company on 10 April, citing personal reasons for his departure at the end of the month.<\/p>\n

The announcement coincided with the resignation of 3 SAA Board members, a move which Cors Consulting director Khaya Sithole said is indicative of major structural issues.<\/p>\n

\u201cWhen conversations centre around a picture this bleak, you imagine there must be casualties,\u201d Sithole said. \u201cAlthough they\u2019re not going to confirm it on record.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cIt\u2019s quite clear that it was on the back of seeing how dire the situation was that some board members thought it was no longer tenable for them to be part of this institution.\u201d<\/p>\n

Lamola\u2019s resignation followed the sudden retirement of acting CFO Lindsay Olitzki in late March, just two days before the end of the financial year.<\/p>\n

While Lamola claimed Olitzki had reached SAA\u2019s mandatory retirement age, Leitch said that it points to instability amongst the group\u2019s executives.<\/p>\n

\u201cAnother casualty has been the head of HR, who has also gone,\u201d Leitch explained. \u201cThere has been massive blood-letting there.\u201d<\/p>\n

Sithole believes that the role of the flag carrier is becoming irrelevant in today\u2019s world, and said that more privatisation may benefit South Africa\u2019s aviation industry.<\/p>\n

Plans for SAA to enter a public-private partnership with the Takatso Consortium in 2021 fell through after three years of failed negotiations, with the state retaining 100% ownership of the airline.<\/p>\n

For More News And Analysis About South-Africa<\/span> Follow Africa-Press<\/span><\/strong><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Africa-Press – South-Africa. South African Airways (SAA) could be declared insolvent within the next 12 months, unless it can completely turn around its current liquidity position. This was the warning given by the Auditor-General of South Africa\u2019s (AGSA) office on 21 April 2026, as it briefed the Portfolio Committee on Transport on the current financial […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":84,"featured_media":97637,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[2,5],"tags":[275],"class_list":["post-97638","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-all-news","category-economy","tag-south-africa-2"],"yoast_head":"\nSAA Could Shut Down Within a Year - South Africa<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"South African Airways (SAA) could be declared insolvent within the next 12 months, unless it can completely turn around ...\" \/>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/south-africa\/all-news\/saa-could-shut-down-within-a-year\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"SAA Could Shut Down Within a Year\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"South African Airways (SAA) could be declared insolvent within the next 12 months, unless it can completely turn around ...\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/south-africa\/all-news\/saa-could-shut-down-within-a-year\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"South Africa\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:publisher\" content=\"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/AfricaPressTunisiaa\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:published_time\" content=\"2026-04-23T13:58:41+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:modified_time\" content=\"2026-04-23T14:02:43+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:image\" content=\"https:\/\/static.africa-press.net\/south-africa\/sites\/31\/2026\/04\/sm_1776940269.306696.jpg\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:width\" content=\"1024\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:height\" content=\"576\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:type\" content=\"image\/jpeg\" \/>\n<meta name=\"author\" content=\"cfeditoren\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:label1\" content=\"Written by\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data1\" content=\"cfeditoren\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:label2\" content=\"Est. reading time\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data2\" content=\"3 minutes\" \/>\n<script type=\"application\/ld+json\" class=\"yoast-schema-graph\">{\"@context\":\"https:\/\/schema.org\",\"@graph\":[{\"@type\":\"Article\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/south-africa\/all-news\/saa-could-shut-down-within-a-year#article\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/south-africa\/all-news\/saa-could-shut-down-within-a-year\"},\"author\":{\"name\":\"cfeditoren\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/south-africa\/#\/schema\/person\/068c7ab4e9634ae78ec5d54ec46598bb\"},\"headline\":\"SAA Could Shut Down Within a Year\",\"datePublished\":\"2026-04-23T13:58:41+00:00\",\"dateModified\":\"2026-04-23T14:02:43+00:00\",\"mainEntityOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/south-africa\/all-news\/saa-could-shut-down-within-a-year\"},\"wordCount\":694,\"commentCount\":0,\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/south-africa\/all-news\/saa-could-shut-down-within-a-year#primaryimage\"},\"thumbnailUrl\":\"https:\/\/static.africa-press.net\/south-africa\/sites\/31\/2026\/04\/sm_1776940269.306696.jpg\",\"keywords\":[\"South-Africa\"],\"articleSection\":[\"all news\",\"economy\"],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"CommentAction\",\"name\":\"Comment\",\"target\":[\"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/south-africa\/all-news\/saa-could-shut-down-within-a-year#respond\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"WebPage\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/south-africa\/all-news\/saa-could-shut-down-within-a-year\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/south-africa\/all-news\/saa-could-shut-down-within-a-year\",\"name\":\"SAA Could Shut Down Within a Year - 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