Mango's business rescue practitioner (BRP) has had to resort to a threat of legal action against the Department of Public Enterprises (DPE) and Treasury in an attempt to get outstanding promised government funding which the low-cost SAA subsidiary is still waiting for.

BRP Sipho Sono, has been trying to get a final payment of R399m from the DPE since the beginning of December 2021 and still had not received it by yesterday.

Fin24 reports that SAA has in the meantime indicated that it received the money from the DPE on 31 March.

Sono is now engaging with SAA to access the funds as a matter of urgency, according to his latest business rescue report to stakeholders.

On 14 March, Sono wrote to Minister of Public Enterprises Pravin Gordhan to request that the R399m be paid by 18 March 2022.

Sono explained that the delay was negatively impacting the implementation of the business rescue plan.

Sono made it clear that, if required, legal action would be initiated to compel Gordhan to release the funds.

When no response was received, Sono turned to Minister of Finance Enoch Godongwana on 25 March, requesting his intervention in the matter.

The DPE confirmed yesterday that the money has been transferred to SAA. According to the DPE, it has to verify that funds previously transferred to Mango had indeed been ‘utilised for intended purposes’ before transferring the next tranche.

SAA will have to ensure such compliance took place before transferring the money on to Mango.

Full Fin24 report