SAA striving to recover R1bn from Zimbabwe as it seeks funds for development

South African Airways is keen to recover some R1b ($59m) in funds from a Zimbabwean legacy debt, but admits it has achieved only minimal success. The carrier’s senior management appeared before a parliamentary public accounts committee on 22 October, laying out the need to source funding after a privatisation effort failed earlier this year. SAA chief financial officer Lindsay Olitzki told the committee that the carrier had been holding “intense negotiations, back and forth” with the Zimbabwean government and reserve bank. “We’ve looked at all the options, many options, in order to get those funds repatriated,” she says. “We’ve not been that successful.” Olitzki says that, in May, the Zimbabwean side put forward a payment plan which involved retaining $9m, enabling SAA to cover in-country costs without transfers from South Africa. But she adds that the plan also indicated a repayment plan of $1m per quarter for the remaining $50m. “That’s a very long payment plan,” she says, adding that the Zimbabwean authorities are “struggling with currency” and SAA has yet to receive the first instalment. The debt was fully impaired in 2019, says Olitzki, but would be a “great bonus” for SAA if the funds can be recovered. “But the [$50m] is going to take a lot of time to be able to release, and we’re still waiting on the first payment,” she adds.<br/>