I didn't join govt to make money - Ramaphosa on SAA claims

Cape Town – Deputy President Cyril Ramaphosa vehemently denied that he is doing business with SAA, saying he did not join government to make money.

Ramaphosa was responding to a question from the IFP’s Mkhuleko Hlengwa in the National Assembly, who asked the Deputy President about allegations by the ANC Youth League that he was doing business with the national carrier.

“It’s a lie and a fabrication,” Ramaphosa said. “I am in the course of engaging the ANC Youth League on this matter. We are in the process of engaging each other on this. I told them the matter they raised was a lie and a fabrication and as you say, ‘fake news’.”

He added that he did not leave business to come and conduct “fraudulent business” in his capacity as a government leader. “I hold the view that if you want to make money, be in business. Do not come and try to make money when you’re in government.”

In a follow-up question, DA MP Alf Lees asked Ramaphosa if he is of the view that SAA chairperson Dudu Myeni’s reappointment as SAA chair in September last year was “irrational”.

Ramaphosa in his response said South Africa should look at the “bigger picture”.

“The SAA board has been reconstructed and we have new board members – outstanding South Africans – who are working together with Dudu Myeni to, against difficult odds, reposition SAA that is a national asset.

“All we should ever do, is to wish the board the greatest of luck. Admittedly they’re working in a difficult industry – the airline industry – where you make or lose money depending on variable factors such as fuel costs.”