Johannesburg - South African Airways (SAA) has asked the government for a
recapitalisation of about R6bn to fund operational costs, growth strategy and
fleet renewal, according to a report on Wednesday.
The requested funds would be in addition to the R1.3bn
subordinated loan SAA already had from the government, Business Day reported.
It also included the company's R1.6bn "going
concern" guarantee it obtained to underpin its money requirements after
the auditor general raised concern last year about its ability to generate cash
to fund operations.
"This year we will have to go through the same process
and the guarantee required will probably be higher," SAA chief financial
officer Wolf Meyer was quoted as saying. He was addressing parliament's public
enterprises committee on Tuesday.
Meyer said SAA's weak balance sheet would also have to be
fixed if it was going to finance growth and fleet renewal, the newspaper
reported.