The Takatso consortium only had to spend 3,16 US dollars to be able to buy the 51 percent majority stake in South African Airways from the South African government. The deal was formally completed last week. However, the investor has to put a lot of money into the ailing company to keep it afloat in the long term.

The carrier has been financially ailing for over a decade. Even before the corona pandemic, the government had to repeatedly provide financial injections, otherwise South African Airways would have gone bankrupt. The crisis also hit the company massively. You had to go into a creditor protection procedure.

Takatso, made up of local aircraft rental company Global Aviation and Harith General Partners, a pan-African investor in African infrastructure, was confirmed as the new majority owner of South African Airways last June. But it wasn't until late last week that the South African government announced the details of the deal.

The government now owns 49 percent of the airline. Initially, according to official figures, the new majority owner will invest around 186 million US dollars in South African Airways. While government officials say the state will provide more money in the future, an internal document from South Africa's Treasury Department has been released in local media. From this it appears that Takatso reserves the right to decide whether current liabilities have to be paid by the government.