JUST IN | SAA to go under 'urgent' business rescue

South African Airways must urgently go into voluntary business rescue, President Cyril Ramaphosa has ordered.

In a leaked letter, Cassius Lubisi, secretary of cabinet, said that Ramaphosa had made the order due to the “dire situation” facing the embattled national carrier.

“This is the only viable route open to the government to avoid an uncontrolled implosion of the national airline,” the letter reads.

“The voluntary business rescue approach will also prevent liquidation applications by any of SAA's creditors, which would land the airline in an even worse position. We remain seized with the SAA crisis and will keep members of the executive informed at all material times,” the letter continued.

Presidency spokesperson Khusela Diko confirmed to TimesLIVE that the letter was authentic and was correspondence to members of the cabinet and deputy ministers.

“It is extremely unfortunate that this correspondence would have made its way into the public domain in this manner as it undermines the very processes under way to deal with the very dire situation at SAA,” she said.

This is a developing story.