SAA's financial woes and the Treasury's rescue mission have attracted a lot of public interest. But what concerned many in the past week was the potential "putting good money after bad" when Telkom confirmed that the government was indeed considering the option of selling a portion or all of its shares in the company to fund a bailout of the carrier. The government's 39% stake is worth R13-billion. The share price is up 234% since 2013. There is hardly any debate that the returns earned by the government from its investment in Telkom have been and are likely to be a lot more lucrative than those to be earned from SAA, if there are any at all. Telkom has been the backbone of South Africa's telecommunications industry for many years. The appointment of Sipho Maseko as CEO and Jabu Mabuza as chairman of a new board were the most significant changes in recent history for the company. Despite all the challenges it faced five years ago, it is back into growth mode in revenues and profits....
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