Johannesburg – South Africa’s Parliament has raised doubts over whether Zimbabwe will ever repay nearly R1 billion owed to South African Airways (SAA), after years of diplomatic efforts failed to resolve the long-running debt dispute.
According to TimesLIVE, Zimbabwe owes SAA more than R942 million in accumulated ticket-sale revenue that has been trapped in the country and cannot be repatriated.
The issue came under scrutiny when the Department of International Relations and Cooperation (Dirco) appeared before Parliament’s Standing Committee on Appropriations on Tuesday.
Committee chairperson Mmusi Maimane questioned whether diplomatic engagement between Pretoria and Harare had achieved anything, saying the prospects of recovering the money appeared poor.
“The short answer is improbable,” Maimane said when discussing whether South Africa could recover funds owed by foreign governments.
Legal or contractual remedies
He further suggested that South Africa may eventually have to pursue legal or contractual remedies if diplomatic efforts continue to fail.
“At some point, as expensive as it may turn out to be, there should be recourse in terms of contractual, legal remedies,” Maimane said.
Reporting by EWN and SABC News confirmed that Dirco has been facilitating negotiations between South African and Zimbabwean officials through bilateral engagements.
Dirco chief director Nyameka Goso acknowledged the difficulty of securing repayment from some countries.
“It is very difficult in some of the cases to force them to fully implement some of the decisions,” Goso said.
The department said its role was primarily to facilitate negotiations, while the relevant South African departments and political principals would have to determine further action.
The debt has been outstanding for years and has been linked to Zimbabwe’s foreign-exchange shortages and restrictions on repatriating funds generated from SAA ticket sales.
Several agreements
A South African Parliament report published earlier this year noted that more than R1 billion in SAA funds had remained trapped in Zimbabwe, despite several agreements aimed at securing repayment. Parliament described the recovery of the money as urgent given SAA’s financial and liquidity challenges.
The issue is particularly significant because SAA has undergone years of financial difficulties and only recently emerged from business rescue. The Auditor-General has also previously warned that recovering money held in foreign countries could improve the airline’s liquidity.
Daily Investor reported in August that the debt had fallen from an earlier figure of about US$87.9 million as some funds were repatriated and others retained in Zimbabwe for local operations. SAA had previously impaired the debt after concluding that recovery was doubtful.
The latest parliamentary scrutiny comes amid continued efforts by Pretoria and Harare to strengthen bilateral relations. However, the SAA debt remains unresolved, raising questions about whether diplomatic engagement alone will be sufficient to recover the money.
Maimane has now indicated that South Africa may need to consider stronger measures if negotiations continue to produce no meaningful repayment.
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Compiled by Betha Madhomu
