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Mpho Sibanyoni

TROUBLED Nationwide Airlines could take to the skies again.

Hannes Muller, a representative of Tshwane Trust, the company appointed to be Nationwide’s provisional liquidator, is scheduled to meet two potential buyers tomorrow. He met another interested party on Friday.

Muller refused to disclose the names of the buyers of the grounded airline.

“It’s still too early for me to divulge the names. I can’t reveal the information because this might confuse the public,” he said.

Since taking over the liquidation of Nationwide, Muller said Tshwane Trust was inundated with enquiries from passengers and employees.

He added that the liquidator would not allow potential buyers access to the financial records of Nationwide Airlines, but would verify figures for them.

African General Equity (AGE) was supposed to buy a majority stake in Nationwide in a black economic empowerment (BEE) deal that would see the company become the country’s first black-owned airline.

According to AGE chief executive Reggie Naidoo, the deal, which was going to be fully-funded by the Industrial Development Corporation (IDC), collapsed because of the weak trading climate for Nationwide.

AGE is an investment company owned by Naidoo and politician Max Sisulu.

Wiseman Nkuhlu, who was also a shareholder, cut ties with the company last year.

“After a meeting with the IDC last Friday, we decided to call off the deal because it was not going to be viable for us,” said Naidoo.

He said the deal crashed due to external factors that included the rocketing fuel prices and shrinking number of air travellers.

“We are not in business to save other businesses. We really wanted to do the deal. We wanted to establish the first black-controlled airline in the country but it was not financially viable for us.”

Joel Mafenya, owner of a free taxi journal TaxiWorld, said though the airline’s management snubbed him, he would not give up on his plans to acquire the company.

Mafenya said he would be flying to Dubai this week to try and convince investors to fund him so he could to buy a stake in the airline company.

The investors, he said, had agreed to back his failed bid to be Nationwide’s BEE partner.

“I’ve already told them that Nationwide has been grounded and the company needs cash to recapitalise its fleet,” he said.

He planned to secure the funding commitments before engaging with Tshwane Trust.

A takeover of the airline could save about 1 000 jobs which were at stake after Nationwide announced its liquidation earlier this week.

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