https://www.polity.org.za
Deepening Democracy through Access to Information
Home / News / All News RSS ← Back
Africa
Africa
africa
Close

Email this article

separate emails by commas, maximum limit of 4 addresses

Sponsored by

Close

Article Enquiry

DPE says State airline should prepare for equity partner

Close

Embed Video

DPE says State airline should prepare for equity partner

DPE says State airline should prepare for equity partner

5th November 2018

By: Reuters

SAVE THIS ARTICLE      EMAIL THIS ARTICLE

Font size: -+

The Department of Public Enterprises (DPE) said on Sunday that struggling State-run South African Airways (SAA) should reduce its cost base and prepare for a strategic equity partner in the near future.

Finance Minister Tito Mboweni had said on Thursday that SAA, which has not generated a profit since 2011 and survives on state guarantees, was unlikely to find a private sector equity partner and should be closed down.

Advertisement

The Public Enterprises ministry said the airline should stop all fraudulent contracts, address its cost base, discipline those implicated in corruption and prepare for an equity partner.

"The immediate priority for the Ministry of Public Enterprises is to stabilise SAA financially and through a rigorous process of cost-reduction and commercial re-orientation," the ministry said in a statement.

Advertisement

The ruling African National Congress (ANC) also said on Sunday that there was no intention to shut down the airline.

"The focus now is on decisively tackling the challenges besetting the national carrier," the ANC said in a statement.

In August, President Cyril Ramaphosa transferred oversight of SAA to the public enterprises ministry, which is led by Pravin Gordhan from the finance ministry. Ramaphosa has pledged to revive struggling state firms, including SAA.

Over the past decade, SAA has lost its place as Africa’s biggest airline and a symbol of patriotic pride to become a source of frustration for taxpayers who have forked out more than R30-billion ($2-billion) since 2012 to keep it in the air.

EMAIL THIS ARTICLE      SAVE THIS ARTICLE

To subscribe email subscriptions@creamermedia.co.za or click here
To advertise email advertising@creamermedia.co.za or click here

Comment Guidelines

About

Polity.org.za is a product of Creamer Media.
www.creamermedia.co.za

Other Creamer Media Products include:
Engineering News
Mining Weekly
Research Channel Africa

Read more

Subscriptions

We offer a variety of subscriptions to our Magazine, Website, PDF Reports and our photo library.

Subscriptions are available via the Creamer Media Store.

View store

Advertise

Advertising on Polity.org.za is an effective way to build and consolidate a company's profile among clients and prospective clients. Email advertising@creamermedia.co.za

View options
Free daily email newsletter Register Now