Fire Miyeni and sell SAA

29 November 2015

A report in today’s City Press, which reveals that SAA’s annual financial losses have increased from R2,5 billion to R4,7 billion compared to the last finanicial year, reaffirms the Democratic Alliance’s call for SAA Chairperson, Ms Dudu Miyeni, to be fired, and for the money-sucking state-owned airline to be privatised (see here).

I will therefore write to the Minister of Finance, Nhlanhla Nene, imploring him to begin the process of selling off SAA. It is no longer tenable for the people of South Africa to continue to fund SAA and Ms Miyeni’s perpetual mismanagement. 

It was confirmed earlier this month that SAA has made a further loss of R648 million in the first six months of the current financial year and is looking for further guarantees from government to the tune of R5 billion so it can finalise its 2014-15 financial statements. This follows Treasury granting SAA a further guarantee of R6.5 billion just last December.

At a time when service delivery is falling by the wayside, the future of the country’s students at higher learning institutions is being compromised and job opportunities decreasing year on year, the government can no longer afford to keep SAA in the air.

SAA has become accustomed to blank cheques from Treasury to fund an airline which shows no clear signs of recovery at the expense of funding programs to grow our economy, increase our national skills base, and ultimately create jobs.

It would amiss to label SAA a state asset as it is in fact a state liability. The burden for propping up SAA can no longer be placed on the shoulders of taxpayers, who would rather see increased funding for the delivery of quality services, the funding of higher education and among other things, the refurbishment and building of better healthcare facilities.

The DA will not stand idle while the people’s money is mismanaged. The ANC must get their priorities straight and put the people of South Africa first.

Statement issued by Natasha Mazzone MP, DA Shadow Minister of Public Enterprises, 29 November 2015