Pravin Gordhan backs SAA’s survival ‘if staff get on board’
In contrast to Tito Mboweni, public enterprises minister says there is no need to sell the airline
Public enterprises minister Pravin Gordhan has indicated that he does not believe SAA, which has lost about R18bn in the past four financial years and is dependent on state guarantees, should be sold. That is in contrast to finance minister Tito Mboweni, who told an investor conference in New York last week that the country was "unlikely to sort out the situation" and that the airline should be closed down. Mboweni’s words attracted a predictably furious response from trade unions. SAA CEO Vuyani Jarana — who together with the board was warned by Gordhan over the weekend to get on with restructuring the airline more speedily — told 702 Talk Radio on Monday that Mboweni had created uncertainty among customers, many of whom would normally book tickets months in advance. The airline has been loss-making since 2011 and has come under fire for putting strain on the fiscus. It has racked up losses of more than R18bn since the 2015 fiscal year. In the past two years, it received R10bn in b...
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