Minister of Public Enterprises Pravin Gordhan and some of his officials flew solo on the selection of Takatso as a strategic equity partner for SAA, contrary to the widely held impression that RMB was the transaction advisor on the deal.
Gordhan has been criticised for failing to consult with the National Treasury over selecting an investor in SAA, which he has defended as not being a necessary step in terms of the Public Finance Management Act. The Treasury has concurred with this view but has said that if it had been consulted it would have flagged several serious risks.
Gordhan has on many occasions stressed that he obtained independent advice from corporate finance specialists RMB on the transaction. But Fin24 has learnt that not only was RMB's role short-lived, but that neither Takatso nor its parent company Harith General Partners were on the list of offers that RMB was asked to evaluate.
