Fin24 reports that the five-year contracts were entered into in 2015, between the airline and the North West Department of Safety and Transport. The contract stipulated that the department was to make a pre-payment subsidy of R112m in the 2014/15 financial year.

The Head of Department in the Department of Community Safety and Transport, Kutlwano Phatudi, told the inquiry that a decision to award the contract was taken without going on tender, in a process which she said she objected to.

According to Phatudi, in 2014, four airlines made presentations before officials from her department, the Office of the Premier, Provincial Treasury and the Department of Tourism.

After the meeting, a memorandum was then sent to Department of Community Safety and Transport Executive Committee, recommending the appointment of SA Express as the preferred service provider.

She said it was against the norm to seek Exco approval for a service provider.

News24