Court documents indicate that Mango is opposed to referring the matter to mediation.
Images by Nardus Engelbrecht/Gallo
- Mango’s corporate bailout practitioner is going to court to try to force Public Enterprises Minister Pravin Gordhan to decide on a proposed sale of the airline.
- Mango needs Gordhan’s approval to implement the adopted corporate bailout plan, which calls for SAA to sell all its shares in Mango to an investor.
- Court documents, seen by News24, indicate that the Mango business bailout practitioner now wants the court to declare Gordhan’s refusal to make a decision illegal and constitutionally invalid.
- For more financial news, Go to the News24 Business Cover.
Mango bailout practitioner is going to court to try to force Public Enterprises Minister Pravin Gordhan to decide on a proposed sale of the low-cost airline.
According to court documents, seen by News24, Mango intends to file an application in the North Gauteng High Court in Pretoria later this month to find that Mango and South African Airways (SAA), Mango’s parent company, filed a valid and complete application for a proposed sale of Mango to Gordhan in terms of the Public Finance Management Act (PFMA).
Mango needs Gordhan’s approval to implement the adopted corporate bailout plan, which calls for SAA to sell all its shares in Mango to an investor.
According to a previous Sono corporate bailout report, SAA submitted an updated request for PFMA approval to Gordhan on November 28, 2022, addressing issues raised by SAA against the proposed sale of Mango.
looking for answers
Sono now wants the court to declare Gordhan’s refusal to make a decision illegal and constitutionally invalid. Sono also wants the court to find that Gordhan does not have the right to ask Mango to provide more information. The court will be asked to order Gordhan to make a decision in respect of PFMA’s application for the sale of Mango and communicate the result to Mango and SAA, including an explanation of the reasons why a decision was not made.
If Gordhan then fails to comply, Sono wants the court to rule that Mango and SAA can assume the PFMA application has been approved and go ahead with the proposed sale.
“Unfortunately, Gordon and, more recently, SAA have tried to thwart [the sale of Mango]. They have refused to consider that the information I presented to Gordhan constituted a valid request in terms of the PFMA,” Sono states in the court papers.
“Gordon’s decision is of vital importance for the implementation of the business rescue plan that I have drawn up and that has been legally adopted by the people affected, and in particular by Mango’s creditors under the terms of the Corporations Law ”.
‘Intolerable’
Sono claims that Gordhan has repeatedly requested additional information from SAA or from him as a rescue medic, “despite the fact that I have already provided him with the relevant information necessary to make a decision.”
Sono views Gordhan’s repeated requests for additional information as “unnecessary delays that constitute a manifest violation of the PFMA.”
“Gordhan’s and SAA’s continued delays are intolerable. They are inconsistent with Gordhan’s constitutional and legal duties that require him to perform his duties diligently and without delay. They now jeopardize the very survival of Mango and, if not met by this court, corrected urgently, will result in no other alternative than the liquidation of Mango,” says Sono.
Court documents indicate that Mango is opposed to referring the matter to mediation. He claims that “previous attempts to meaningfully engage with [Gordhan] has not been successful and therefore there is no prospect of success in mediation.”
Mango was put into voluntary commercial rescue in July 2021 and has not flown since. Sono wanted Mango to restart operations on December 2, 2021. However, the DPE made it clear that this could only be done if an investor bought Mango. After a due diligence process, Sono selected a consortium, whose identity has not yet been disclosed, as the preferred bidder to buy Mango.
