A day after hundreds of passengers were left stranded due to a refuelling issue experienced by Airports Company SA (Acsa), it released a statement quashing claims it was undergoing liquidation and had left service providers in the lurch due to nonpayment.
By late Monday afternoon the refuelling situation had been resolved, Acsa said. That caused significant disruptions, grounding aircraft and delaying flights across all airlines for more than three hours during peak operational hours at OR Tambo International Airport.
In the statement on Tuesday, Acsa denied owing more than R500mn to service providers, saying however that it had “received claims that still need to be verified of R126m, which are subject of the arbitration process”.
The DA’s tourism spokesperson Haseena Ismail on Tuesday said: “Acsa is facing multiple liquidation applications due to its failure to pay service providers over R500m, excluding interest, for services rendered, which already is a great concern — and a collapse of fuel supply yesterday lends further credence to this reporting.
“Allegations of financial misrepresentation and withheld payments by Acsa have further undermined confidence in airport operations and management. Tourism is a cornerstone of SA’s economy, sustaining thousands of jobs and contributing significantly to revenue generation.”
Ismail urged transport minister Barbara Creecy to act swiftly and launch an investigation. Acsa said liquidation proceedings were instituted against it for unverified claims.
“The application for liquidation has therefore no prospects of success, as Acsa is a going concern and is able to pay its debts as and when they arise. At this stage, Acsa is not aware of any additional impending liquidation applications since the proceedings described above.
“Service providers claims against Acsa do not have the effect of creating liability in Acsa’s books. The mere existence of a claim from a service provider does not translate to a contingent liability or even grounds for liquidation. Filing a liquidation application does not mean that the application has merit, particularly when unverified.”
It also rejected allegations that its financial statements were “fake”.
“The financial statements of 2023/24 were independently audited by the auditor-general of SA, and an independent audit opinion was issued confirming ‘Acsa’s financial statements present fairly in all material respects the financial position of the group and financial performance and cash flow for the year ended in accordance with the financial standards, Public Finance Management Act and Companies Act’.
Acsa said it was in receipt of unverified claims of R126m over the calculation of increases and training.
“The increases are in relation to labour costs, equipment and training fees. These matters have been referred to arbitration to get a ruling on what is fair to claim and what is fair to pay.
“In respect of one of the matters the arbitration was instituted on February 24 2023; in August 2023, Acsa filed the statement of defence and counterclaim. On February 7 2024, Acsa filed an amended statement of defence and counterclaim. Eight months later in 2024 the service provider has not responded, and the matter was set down for an arbitration hearing for March 17 2025, where they would be entitled to pursue any claims they have against Acsa in that process.
“The service provider has chosen instead on November 27 2024 to submit an application for liquidation, abandoning the arbitration process prescribed through the service level agreement as a last resort for contracting parties to resolve disputes.”
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