SAA board: ‘New board members have important skills’

The only way taxpayers will notice when there is a new board at South African Airways (SAA) is when the airline stops draining the fiscus.

The refreshed SAA roll call of interim directors may just make this pipe dream come true. The Democratic Alliance’s Alf Lees welcomed the appointment of the new interim board, albeit with some trepidation.

“The composition of the new SAA board, chaired by Derek Hanekom, while not having direct airline experience, has a clean record, together with a number of other new board members who would seem to have important skills,” he said.

NOW READ: Derek Hanekom appointed new SAA interim chair

Takatso deal

Lees questioned whether the new board configuration may either be a preparation for finalisation of the Takatso deal or a backstop, should the two-year-old mystery ultimately fail.

And Lees is convinced it may flatline: “The Takatso deal has made no known progress since it was announced.

It would seem that [Public Enterprises Minister Pravin] Gordhan may have lost his enthusiasm for the Takatso deal, given that he has still not made any attempt to deal with the requirement to rescind the SAA Act or to amend this Act.” Trade union Numsa shares Lees’ sentiments.

“Takatso has no money and yet they have been hand-picked by Gordhan,” the union said. “Takatso remains shrouded in mystery because Gordhan refuses to disclose to the public, or to parliament, how he came to the decision that Takatso were the right equity partner.”

ALSO READ: ‘If they can’t show the money, there’s no deal’ – Gordhan on SAA-Takatso takeover

Aviation analyst and editor of SA Flyer Magazine Guy Leitch suggested that there are several directors that list merger and acquisition experience in their biographies and that may indicate, strongly, the direction which SAA will forge ahead to the conclusion of the Takatso deal.

Leitch said he doubts the new board has the aviation expertise to take SAA into the future, should the Takatso deal fall flat.

No-confidence

One of the freshly minted directors already shared a vote of no confidence in SAA. Shortly after public enterprises announced her appointment on the board, Clarissa Appana reportedly made herself unavailable for the position.

The department could not be drawn on the matter and neither did it share any details of a possible replacement by the time of publishing.

The rest of the new pack, said Leitch, at face value, seems to have near-zero aviation experience, except for Dumisani Sangweni, who worked at SAA and was in charge of networks and alliances – a key post at SAA. In a statement, Gordhan said:

“The appointment of this interim board underscores our commitment to the success and stability of South African Airways.

Their exceptional experience and expertise will guide the airline toward a prosperous future in collaboration with the Takatso Consortium.”

ALSO READ: DPE’s SAA board announcement a ‘shoddy attempt to legitimise illegitimate process’

– news@citizen.co.za