Should we feign surprise at Finance Minister Malusi Gigaba using taxpayer money for the latest, no-strings-attached R2.3bn bail-out to South African Airways (SAA)? After countless supposed turnaround strategies and billions wasted, it should be quite clear that support for the "national carrier" has everything to do with a dogmatic pursuit of a failed ideological way of thinking and nothing at all to do with economics. What should surprise many is how much the ANC mimics failed National Party policies in the pursuit of "nationalist" goals at the expense of the poor. Over more than a decade SAA has cost taxpayers an estimated R30bn — money that could have been used to build housing for the indigent, improve SA’s dismal education outcomes or fund basic services for the poor. This mindless commitment to the "national" carrier has crowded out at least nine private airlines, which, through competition, would have brought costs down and improved services. Even though the Competition Commi...
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