Parliamentary Diary: How do you solve a problem like SAA?

Newly-appointed acting CEO of South African Airways, Musa Zwane, can be under no illusions about the scale of the task that awaits him in trying to turn around the national carrier. Zwane is, after all, the seventh person in his position in less than four years. His predecessor in the role, Thuli Mpshe, lasted just four months. For Zwane, who previously held the role of head of the airline’s maintenance unit, the hot seat must feel very warm indeed.

With SAA notching up a loss of R648 million in the first six months of the financial year, it was reported last month that SAA had spent R9,4 million on purchasing copies of the Gupta-owned New Age newspaper. Zwane’s first appearance before Parliament on Wednesday was something of a baptism of fire, with opposition Members of Parliament condemning the poor quality of information put before them, and the Democratic Alliance describing the airline’s status as a “crisis”. But Zwane put on a confident show, claiming he believes that the airline can be financially righted within five years.

Further proof of the damaging impact of Home Affairs’ visa regulations for travelers was heard by the Finance and Public Enterprises Parliamentary Committee, with Zwane claiming that the regulations had cost the airline around R574 million. This was just one of the aspects Zwane identified as having contributed to the airline’s financial free-fall. Others were the poor performance of the rand, an ageing fleet, weaknesses in the state’s approach to the parastatal, and staff costs. To address the latter, Zwane said that the airline had reduced its employee numbers by 484, bringing the headcount down to 8,263.

The national carrier’s wage bill made headlines in October not for the number of its employees, however, but for the staggering figures paid to its top officials. Parliamentary questions revealed that former CEO, Monwabisi Kalawe, took home R4,5 million over the 2014/2015 Parliamentary year, with Chief Financial Officer, Wolf Meyer not far behind on R3,6 million. As DA MPs pointed out at the time, these are higher salaries than that earned by South Africa’s President.

Staff problems continue to bring headaches extending beyond wage bills at various levels, however. In July, chief strategy officer, Barry Parsons, resigned. This week saw the resignation of Meyer, with an acting CFO yet to be appointed. The airline’s pilots held a meeting on Monday in which a vote of no confidence in SAA’s board was passed. One of the pilots’ major gripes has been the controversial R6 billion Airbus aircraft deal, which was viewed as wasteful and unaffordable.

Zwane acknowledged on Wednesday that it is not just pilots who have employment concerns at the moment, but also cabin crew and technical staff, who have racism complaints. He said that all stakeholders would be engaged equally.

Will SAA be approaching Treasury for a begging bowl refill, like so many other state owned entities? Zwane indicated that Treasury had ruled out a capital injection, but given that the cost of funding for the next financial year would be over R1 billion, Zwane expressed some regret about this decision.

“We remain hopeful that government will reconsider capital injection,” he said.

Opposition parties have their own concerns with the SAA board headed up by controversial chairwoman, Dudu Myeni, with the Economic Freedom Fighters’, Floyd Shivambu going so far as to suggest that the entire board should be dismissed. If this did not happen, he said, SAA flights would sit on the runway. “I don’t want to catch a bus to Parliament,” Shivambu pointed out.

The DA’s David Maynier, meanwhile, bluntly put it to Miyeni that she should resign for the good of SAA. Miyeni answered that she felt she was being targeted for having pushed a transformation agenda, but said that she would respond within seven days. Committee chairman, Yunus Carrim, an ANC MP, warned Miyeni that a response would be expected, because “none of you are above the law”.

In a statement following the meeting, the DA’s Natasha Mazzone said there was only one possible way forward for the national carrier. “The DA calls on the Minister of Finance to initiate a process that would see SAA privatised,” Mazzone said.

While SAA deals with its problems, this week in Parliament, there is one less thing for officials to worry about, he strike by parliamentary staff which disrupted proceedings last week was suspended on Tuesday. This follows an agreement being reached between the National Education, Health and Allied Workers Union (Nehawu), and Parliament’s management over the annual performance bonuses workers were demanding. There must have been some sighs of relief in Parliament’s corridors when the strike was called off. President Jacob Zuma is due to make his final appearance for the year in Parliament on Thursday, where he will answer questions in the National Assembly. The thought of having the President’s visit disrupted by protesting workers was no doubt causing sleepless nights for some. DM

Read more:

• State-owned enterprises: Chaos inside a mess, wrapped in politics, in Daily Maverick.

Photo: An image taken through a window showing a South African airlines Airbus 340-600 passenger plane at Frankfurt airport, Frankfurt, Germany, 26 July 2013. EPA/MAURITZ ANTIN.