LETTER: Shoot the SAA albatross!

The SAA strike is a golden opportunity for President Cyril Ramaphosa to be rid of this albatross around the nation’s neck. It is bankrupt and its employees still want more money. British Airways/Comair and Safair should procure the SAA fleet when the government realises SAA will not fly again. There you are, Mr President: new investment and a bottomless pit filled.

This is an opportunity for Ramaphosa to send a loud message to the unions: if they do not like what he is saying, they should leave the tripartite alliance. This is also an opportunity for him to send a message to the socialists and communists in the tripartite alliance that the government and taxpayers have run out of money to keep supporting bankrupt state-owned enterprises (SOEs) as protected employment for incompetent cadres. If the communists and socialists in the tripartite alliance cannot stomach this, they should also leave the alliance.

With these shackles removed, the president could encourage the lunatic fringe of the ANC that it would be more comfortable in the red boiler suits of Julius Malema’s EFF. And, finally, the president should hasten to expunge from the ANC parliamentary caucus all those who have had their fingers in the cookie jar.

That would leave about 100 ANC MPs still loyal to Ramaphosa in parliament. The party’s national executive committee may want to remove him after he has taken these actions, but because the president is elected by parliament, Ramaphosa should reach out to the official opposition and other smaller parties and come to an arrangement so he would not lose a vote of no confidence and they could form a coalition to govern the country.

Paul du Toit
Via e-mail