[imagesource:wikicommons]
Airports Company SA (ACSA) has been accused of publishing ‘fake’ financial reports after the company posted profits yet failed to mention its debt of hundreds of millions or rands dating back several years.
According to IOL, the accusations are included in a document filed with the high court of Johannesburg last week by a service provider who has applied for ACSA’s liquidation for failing to pay the provider for services rendered at O.R Tambo International Airport.
ACSA is also apparently facing another liquidation application this week.
The service providers say they are facing significant cash flow problems which may result in the airports being placed at risk after they detailed the impossible mission of getting their owed money from ACSA.
While ACSA CEO Mpumi Mpofu recently boasted that the company made an R472 million after-tax profit for the financial year 2023/2024, service providers are locked in arbitration processes to recoup more than R550 million excluding interest from the company.
The arbitration process also gagged the owed service providers from any other recourse, so it appears that the recent announcement of ACSA profits is grossly overstated and may mislead shareholders and banking institutions.
The seemingly dodgy claims of profits make sense in the light of a reported R20 billion initiative to modernise existing airports – which is dependent on ACSA being able to demonstrate profitability to secure this massive expenditure.
Profitability claims also help to justify the ACSA board of directors, executives, CEO, and personnel pocketing substantial bonuses.
The companies hoping to get their dues from the ‘profitable’ ACSA are amongst others, Bidvest Protea Coin Security, Fidelity Security, Eagle Eye Security, G4S Aviation, Mafako Security and Venue Security.
Eagle Eye representative Depaak Partab confirmed to The Star that they are currently in litigation with ACSA regarding this matter, but declined to make any further comments. Another company rep told the same publication that the companies are owed way more than R500 million, with their arrears amounting to about R40 million.
“In order to secure renewal of employment contracts, including CEO position, and order to receive bonuses and pay dividends, they have declared profit while owing us.”
“She (Mpofu) and the board must be suspended and ACSA must be put under Investigation.It is open sophisticated-looking corruption if anyone receives performance bonuses. This is a fraudulent misrepresentation as all the All the cases were lost in the courts in the last three or so years. The CEO and her team must foot the legal cost bill, not taxpayers through ACSA.”
Mpofu however denied that ACSA is deliberately not paying its suppliers, saying the entity ‘always pays its invoices within the legislated 30-day provision and sometimes sooner’.
“ACSA has a duty to ensure that it protects itself from paying disputed invoices. Some of the invoices are under arbitration and we will not be bullied into paying invoices that are disputed.”
Mpofu however told The Star that “it might take time to get all the information to you by today.”
Meanwhile, the aggrieved service providers have organised a media tour to ‘show the country the dilapidating state of South Africa’s airports’.
“We want you to see it for yourself. South Africa’s airports are in a horrific state. While ACSA publishes false profits, the escalators don’t work, the toilets are dirty, and the parking ticket machines are faulty. That is the general poor state of our airports.”
ACSA is a state-owned company and is accountable to the Minister of Transport, Barbara Creecy, who was appointed on 3 July 2024. Hopefully, our new GNU minister can get to the bottom of the rot in ACSA. Our national airports are after all, like, kind of important.
[source:iol]
