South African government sells majority stake in airline SAA to consortium

The South African government is selling a 51% stake in South African Airways (SAA) to Takatso consortium, which will initially commit more than 3 billion rand ($221.60 million) to give the struggling airline a new lease of life.

SAA has been under a form of bankruptcy protection since December 2019 but its fortunes worsened during the COVID-19 pandemic and all its operations were mothballed in September 2020 when funds ran low.

The airline is one of a handful of South African state companies that depend on government bailouts, placing the national budget under huge strain at a time of…