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Cape Town - The much-anticipated showdown between Parliament and South African Airways chairperson Dudu Myeni got off to a flat start when Myeni arrived almost two hours late for the meeting.
At the onset of the meeting, Deputy Finance Minister Mcebisi Jonas apologised on behalf of Myeni, who had an urgent doctor’s appointment.
Towards the end Yunus Carrim, chairperson of the standing committee on finance, asked Myeni to say a few words and to respond to a question from Democratic Alliance MP David Maynier about the controversy around her reappointment.
She started off apologising for being late. “Thank you for understanding that I wasn't well. Either I ate something that was not correct, or there was another reason.”
Responding to questions about the SAA board specifically, Myeni said the appointment of board members was a “quick process” and that she believed SAA would be a “better airline”.
To Maynier, she said her appointment was a Cabinet decision. “I never appoint myself.”
Prior to her concluding statement, Myeni had little interaction with MPs and the rest of the SAA delegation and members of National Treasury. When she entered the parliamentary chamber, she took a seat in the back row and frequently looked at her phone.
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Instead, newly-appointed deputy board chairperson of SAA Tryphosa Ramano answered some board-related questions.
“As a board we’ve only been here for two weeks,” Ramano said in response to a question from Economic Freedom Fighters MP Floyd Shivambu on what the board intended to do differently this time around.
“We are indeed aware of our responsibilities and the shareholder’s compact, and we’re giving all our attention to the key priorities the finance minister gave us,” she said.
The financial statements SAA presented on Tuesday recorded a significantly bigger loss – R950m more – than the figures stated in the airline’s preliminary report that had been tabled on Thursday September 15.
READ: SAA’s losses for 2014/15 almost R1bn more than R4.7bn guarantee
Finance Minister Pravin Gordhan anticipated a R4.7bn loss, but in its restated figures on Tuesday SAA said it was in fact R5.6bn.
According to its acting chief financial officer, Phumeza Nhantsi, the bigger loss was due to an increased provision for “pending litigation”. She later confirmed that the provision related to SAA’s court cases with Comair and Nationwide over anti-competitive behaviour.
During question time Jonas, who was part of a delegation from National Treasury as SAA’s shareholder, responded to a question about whether SAA intends to find a minority equity partner.
Gordhan, who said in his February budget speech that he and the department of public enterprises were considering the possibility of an SAA and SA Express merger and maybe the addition of a minority equity partner, first mooted the idea of getting a minority private equity partner on board.
According to Jonas, the government is not ideologically opposed to getting an equity partner, but now is not the right time, he said.
“We’ve taken the view that we should look at this issue, but we must first ensure that SAA is stable financially and has a strong and solid business and operational strategy. If we pursue private participation now we’ll have a disaster.”
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