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Cape Town - The National Treasury is considering state-owned carrier South African Airways’s request for financial support, Finance Minister Pravin Gordhan said.
The airline needs a new management team and must be able to stand on its own feet withing the next five years, Gordhan the National Assembly on Wednesday.
Chairperson Dudu Myeni was reappointed to ensure proper handover to a new board and will vacate her post after a year, he said.
Gordhan said he will meet with Public Enterprises Minister Lynne Brown about the sale of a minority stake in the airline. The government reappointed Myeni last week and also appointed 11 new non-executive directors for the carrier.
He admitted that the reappointment of SAA board chair Dudu Myeni was a “result of stakeholders considering the merits and demerits” of individuals.
INFOGRAPHIC: Who's who on the new SAA board
Gordhan didn’t go into further detail about Myeni’s appointment specifically, but said that he didn’t see the chairperson of the board as someone who can do what they like.
"I do not see the SAA chair as an all powerful person who can do what he or she likes," he said. “Board decisions are made on a democratic basis.”
He emphasised that the shareholder (national treasury in SAA’s case) would keep a close eye on the board to see if matters are executed in accordance with corporate governance rules. “We’ll also make sure that the board works as a team and in the interest of the airline.”
In response to a question from DA MP Alf Lees, Gordhan said he never explicitly mentioned the word “privatisation” in his budget speech this year when he spoke about SAA.
“I did say I and the minister of enterprises (Lynne Brown) were exploring a possible merger of SAA and SA Express and a possible minority shareholder.”
According to Gordhan, the matter was still looked into.
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