Parliament, Tuesday, 9 June 2020 – The Standing Committee on Public Accounts (Scopa) will begin an application process to subpoena the liquidators of South African Express (SA Express). The committee will apply to the Office of the Speaker for this, as it is only the Speaker who has power to subpoena persons or entities to appear before Parliament.
Scopa unanimously decided to take this step after the liquidators failed to appear before the committee today without an explanation. Scopa will consult with the Parliamentary Legal Services on the process of issuing the liquidators with a subpoena. The actions of the liquidators undermine Parliament and the employees of SA Express who will be deeply affected by the changes taking place at the airline.
Scopa is also concerned that the liquidation process at SA Express was scheduled to be finalised today. The committee learnt this morning that the liquidators have been granted a three-month extension. This is concerning because extending the period of liquidation, which was 25 days, will also extend the liquidators’ fee. In addition, the extension was granted without the committee being aware of the work that has been conducted so far and the impact it will have on the public purse. For this reason, Scopa has requested a schedule of payment for the liquidation process, to see how much the liquidators will earn from the process.
Scopa has scheduled another meeting with the SA Express liquidators for next week, Wednesday at 12:00. This scheduling is parallel to the application process for the subpoena to mitigate the failure of the liquidators to appear before the committee again.
ISSUED BY THE PARLIAMENTARY COMMUNICATION SERVICES ON BEHALF OF THE CHAIRPERSON OF SCOPA, MR MKHULEKO HLENGWA.
For media enquiries, please contact the committee’s Media Officer:
Name: Ms Faith Ndenze
Parliamentary Communication Services
Tel: 021 403 8062
Cell: 081 377 0686
Email: fndenze@parliament.gov.za
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