There’s no making Lite of SAA plan

The old saying about what happens when you “give a dog a bad name” essentially means that a person, or organisation, which has done bad things in the past will always be expected to act in a similar way in the future.

Sometimes, though, that cynicism is not justified – but, nevertheless, the bad name sticks. Such is the dilemma that our new national airline, the phoenix which will supposedly rise from the ashes of South African Airways, faces in trying to function profitably in the post-Covid world.

A proposed new rescue plan will see thousands of employees being retrenched, new management in place and the goal of becoming profitable within three to five years. However, customers and suppliers of “SAA Lite” in the future will, we fear, not be able to get the “bad name” out of their minds.

So, the damage which incompetent management and interfering politicians have done to the airline over decades, will become the toxic gift which continues giving. Another major worry for the future of the venture is that politicians might be unable to resist keeping their grubby, corrupt paws off it.

Whatever happens, taxpayers’ pockets are going to be picked to pay for this flight of fancy.

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