Solidarity: Govt never wanted to rescue SAA
Trade union Solidarity says the government never showed any serious effort to rescue South African Airways (SAA) from total collapse.
This comes after the announcement that the government will not be funding the national airline any further.
Public Enterprises Minister Pravin Gordhan has rejected the SAA business rescue practitioners' request for a further R10 billion.
In a letter directed to SAA business rescue practitioners Les Matuson and Siviwe Dongwana, Gordon indicated that the government doesn't have the money.
The union's chief executive Dirk Hermann says government managed SAA to the ground and wanted to control the business rescue process.
"Government shareholder managed South African Airways (SAA) to the ground, and they were never serious about rescuing the airline, they wanted to control the entire process.”
He says their biggest concern right now is lack of accountability from the government's side on SAA's crisis and workers are going to suffer the consequences.
"We are in discussions with the business rescue practitioners and government on how workers can be protected in this crisis."
He believes that the COVID-19 pandemic also had severe consequences for the airline.
Econometrix chief economist Azar Jammine says there is no use pouring money onto SAA.
"One must realise that SAA is not even it's own; it is together with many other airlines; they are not functioning. There is no point in trying to keep the airline going by pouring in billions to runs when those billions are needed to fight the coronavirus.”
Jammine hopes after the pandemic the airlines globally will recover as people stay to travel.