South African Airways still has about ZAR1 billion, or roughly $60 million, in ticket revenue trapped in Zimbabwe after a years-long dispute over repatriating funds from its Harare and Victoria Falls routes. The issue surfaced in a parliamentary briefing on 25 August, where South Africa’s international relations department outlined the airline’s exposure as part of a wider push to recover foreign debts owed to the country.
The stranded money dates back roughly a decade of ticket sales and has not been repaid under a plan understood to have been agreed around 2020, when Zimbabwe was expected to transfer $1 million a quarter. No repayments have materialised. SAA has already fully impaired the debt on its balance sheet, signalling that recovery is now viewed as unlikely.
Zimbabwe has countered that it is owed money by SAA as well, including about $2.4 million for meteorological and weather services. The airline’s Zimbabwe exposure forms the bulk of South Africa’s broader effort to recover about ZAR1.4 billion in foreign debts, underscoring how foreign-exchange shortages in Zimbabwe continue to disrupt aviation revenue repatriation for carriers operating in the country.