Public Enterprises Minister Pravin Gordhan said liquidating the South African Airways (SAA) would have disastrous consequences like job losses.
On Wednesday, Gordhan briefed the Standing Committee on Public Accounts (Scopa) about the state of affairs at SAA.
The meeting follows a parliamentary oversight visit to SAA last year.
Gordhan told MPs there was hope to rescue the ailing state-owned company.
The department’s acting director general Kgathatso Tlhakudi said liquidation would have serious consequences for the airline and could lead to job losses.
“Liquidation would have had dire consequences for SAA. It would have impacted confidence on the market on our aviation market.”
Gordhan said it was imperative they found a way to rescue the airline to avoid liquidation.
He’s quipped that as things stand, SAA was not worth much and they would have to pay people to take ownership of the airline.
“Nobody is going to offer you anything for SAA. Some of you talked about selling SAA [but] we would properly have to pay people to buy SAA. That’s the honest truth.”