SAA optimistic it can resolve Zimbabwe impasse

Zimbabwe’s environment ministry plans to attach SAA’s assets in that country for allegedly owing $2.4m in unpaid fees even as the Zimbabwean government owes the airline $59m in non-interest bearing blocked funds.

About $62m in revenue that SAA earned in Zimbabwe has been blocked since 2016 due to foreign exchange repatriation challenges in Zimbabwe at that time. For the past three years, SAA’s management has liaised with the Reserve Bank of Zimbabwe and its finance and economic development department to try to unblock the funds.

SAA said in a statement on Tuesday that it had reached an understanding with Zimbabwe’s permanent secretary of finance and economic development on various repayment arrangements. However, Zimbabwe’s environment ministry has now raised a claim of about $2.4m for what it claims to be unpaid “meteorological weather service fees” between 2006 and 2014.

SAA claims it has already in November 2023 paid US$877 435 towards this debt.

Nevertheless, the environment ministry proceeded with legal action and obtained a court order against SAA for $1.6m. On October 8, the ministry obtained a writ of execution against SAA’s property in Zimbabwe. SAA did not clarify what assets it had in Zimbabwe that could be attached.

SAA is fighting back against the claim for unpaid fees and has informed Zimbabwe’s finance department that this is seen as “a malicious and unnecessarily disruptive action” by the environment ministry as the government of Zimbabwe owes SAA a much larger amount.