SAA’s ‘profit’ just doesn’t fly

Surely, our trustworthy ANC government would never massage numbers to make a state-owned enterprise look better financially than it actually is? What do you think?

The strange case of the South African Airways (SAA) “profit” is a bit like a desert mirage … it keeps changing shape, depending on the angle you look at it from.

Earlier this year, officials from Treasury confidently predicted a profit of R500 million from the historically loss-making airline.

ALSO READ: SAA’s profit mystery

Now, though, when asked to show how they arrived at that forecast, our top bean counters have gone mute, referring all inquiries to the airline and the department of public enterprises (its overseer) – both of whom are, similarly, banking and diving.

Aviation experts point out that this profit is highly unlikely, especially given the fact that, while the airline is again flying, its tickets sales are still not going through the roof, and that, after initially retrenching thousands of employees, it has again been taking on staff.

ALSO READ: Competition Tribunal hearing into the SAA-Takatso merger underway

And it is talking about entering into expensive aircraft leases, preparatory to opening up some of its previous international routes. Meanwhile, the sale of the airline (for a nominal R51, remember?) to the Takatso consortium still hasn’t gone through.

Fasten your bailout seatbelts, taxpayers…