South African Airways has confirmed that it informed staff it would not be able to pay their salaries as scheduled for the month of November.
This comes as the airline is dealing with a strike that management has admitted could wreak havoc on the beleaguered parastatal's finances.
The airline last week said it would have to do away with 944 jobs, which prompted two unions at the airline - the National Union of Metalworkers of South Africa and the South African Cabin Crew Association - to embark on a strike.
Three more unions, namely The South African Transport and Allied Workers Union (Satawu), Solidarity, and the Aviation Union of Southern Africa (AUSA), challenged plans to retrench staff at the Commission for Conciliation Mediation and Arbitration and were awarded the right to be consulted about the process on Wednesday.
A screenshot of what appears to be an internal correspondence about delays in the payment of salaries went viral on Twitter on Thursday afternoon.
SAA spokesperson Tlali Tlali told Fin24 that the airline advised personnel the airline would not be able to pay salaries for November on the normal scheduled payment dates.
"The company has yet to secure R2bn working capital to fund its daily operations and this includes payment of salaries to all employees," Tlali said to Fin24 via WhatsApp message.
Tlali added that SAA undertook to keep employees updated on the matter and will advise staff on the dates for payment of November salaries.