Scopa vows to tackle SAA's financial non-compliance

The cash-strapped state-owned airline failed to submit audited annual reports to Parliament last month.

Scopa chairperson Mkhuleko Hlengwa says the airline's non-compliance has become a trend.

"The SAA issue of non-submission is fast becoming normalised.

"It cannot be allowed to continue, because if we do that here we are aiding and abetting this kind of non-compliance."

SAA's woes reared their ugly head again on Tuesday when several domestic flights were grounded by the South African Civil Aviation Authority (SACAA) in the wake of an audit on one of its maintenance and technical service providers South African Airways Technical (SAAT).

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However, "Any unexpected shift such as unplanned breakdowns could result in load shedding at short notice," according to a statement issued by the power utility. Eskom says it has made "positive progress with the recovery of the power system."

The Sunday Times reported that SA Technical, which supplies all major maintenance for SAA, supplied the airline with suspect mechanical parts.

 

"We were under no illusion in terms of what we saw and observed that SA technical was literally in a windfall, it was tumbling, it was in free fall. We observed that. From leadership instability to the interactions we had with the staff," adds Hlengwa.

 

Hlengwa vowed to get to the bottom SAA's non-compliance issues.