The deal with Takatso consortium for 51% of SAA shares remains a work in progress, or live transaction, and commercial sensitivities meant details of the deal were not shareable, MPs were told on Tuesday.

The SAA deal is not finalised yet, more than two months after Cabinet approved the sale and purchase agreement between Public Enterprises and the consortium that was named in June 2021 as government's strategic equity partner.

And there is no deadline.

"We would like it to be sooner than later," Public Enterprises Minister Pravin Gordhan told Parliament's public spending watchdog, the Standing Committee on Public Accounts (Scopa).

In the interim, it's all fudgy -- from rands and cents to crucial legislative changes given that SAA is a creature of statute.

Bottom line: until the 51% stake transaction with the Takatso consortium is finalised, government remains responsible for SAA. And that includes the R16.4-billion in government guarantees, one of National Treasury's flagged concerns, alongside Public Enterprises' commitment that government would take care of all so-called historical liabilities.

"What we are trying to do as part of that (sale) agreement, moving forward, we reduce these guarantees, there is no further exposure... " said Finance Minister Enoch Godongwana, emphasising...