The body that adjudicates international aviation licenses in South Africa may not apply BEE criteria, the Pretoria high court has affirmed. (Peter Titmuss/UCG/Universal Images Group via Getty Images).

• The entity that issues licences for airlines travelling into and out of South Africa may not apply BEE criteria.
• This was affirmed by the Pretoria High Court after Sakeliga claimed that the International Air Service Licensing Council had overreached on its mandate.
• Sakeliga approached the court after industry members expressed concern about the licensing authority's application of BEE criteria.
• For more financial news, visit News24 Business.

The entity that adjudicates licence applications for international airlines flying into and out of South Africa may not apply BEE criteria during this process, the Pretoria High Court has affirmed.

Non-profit Sakeliga approached the court last year, claiming that the International Air Service Licensing Council (IASC) unlawfully applied BEE requirements when adjudicating air service licenses in 2023 and 2024.

The IASC is a statutory body responsible for granting licences to airlines flying into and out of the country and for ensuring that these airlines meet certain operational and safety standards.

Sakeliga CEO Piet le Roux told News24 that private and diplomatic representatives had expressed concerns to Sakeliga about the IASC’s application of BEE requirements.

News24 has spoken to several diplomatic and aviation sources in recent months, who confirmed that there have been long-standing concerns about the application of BEE criteria on foreign airlines.

Le Roux said the representatives approached Sakeliga after it announced that it would litigate against similar BEE demands in domestic air services licensing.

Following these discussions, Sakeliga submitted a Promotion of Access to Information request to the IASC. Among other documents, Sakeliga obtained IASC meeting minutes from December 2023 to March 2024.

Sakeliga attached these minutes, which had certain information redacted, including the names of the airlines mentioned, to its notice of motion and founding affidavit.

Le Roux said that among the visible portion of the document showed that the IASC had requested an airline to provide B-BBEE verification certificates, “B-BBEE future plans”, and a “B-BBEE plan”, as part of adjudicating international air service licence applications and amendments.

In so doing, Sakeliga argued that the IASC was overreaching its authority by applying sections of the B-BBEE Act. It said the IASC is a statutory body established under the International Air Services Act. It said that transformation requirements fall outside the purview of the International Air Services Act.

Sakeliga approached the Pretoria High Court in October 2025, shortly after it won a similar case against the licensing entity that adjudicated local air service licences, to argue that the IASC has overstepped its mandate.

Sakeliga said Transport Minister Barbara Creecy, who was a party to the case, indicated last year that she did not intend to oppose the application. The evidence obtained by Sakeliga predates Creecy’s tenure as Transport Minister.

The IASC indicated that it did not intend to oppose Sakeliga’s application earlier this year.

The matter was therefore unopposed.

The court order handed down on 5 June stated that the IASC’s decision to apply criteria outside the International Air Services Act in adjudicating licence decisions is set aside and declared unlawful.

Department of Transport spokesperson Collen Msibi told News24 that the department needed more time to provide a substantive response on the matter.

In the interim, he indicated that there is no domestic ownership requirement for international airlines in South Africa.

This article was updated with comment from the Department of Transport.