SAA was stolen and destroyed

Former Finance Minister and Chairperson of the National Planning Commission, Trevor Manuel, said that South African Airways was stolen and destroyed in the process.

Manuel shared this information during a scathing review of South Africa’s post-1994 governance at the National Democratic Revolution Seminar last month.

He was critical of public services, systemic corruption, and the post-2007 political trajectory in South Africa.

He said during the Presidencies of Nelson Mandela and Thabo Mbeki, when he was finance minister, there was strong economic growth.

“We were seeing growth, and with that growth came job creation. It isn’t like a light switch; you have to get all kinds of issues in alignment,” he said.

He added that, amidst this strong economic growth, there was also significant progress on state-owned enterprises. This included South African Airways (SAA).

“I remember the launch of the new tail, the tail we have on SAA now, replacing the orange tail with a blue springbok,” he said.

“It was a matter of pride, and we had an airline that carried us across the world because we were a country of substance.”

SAA was the top airline in Africa, operating long-haul routes to New York, London, Hong Kong, and South America.

However, during the Jacob Zuma Presidency, it collapsed. It began recording huge losses and relied on multi-billion-rand government bailouts to survive.

The airline became a focal point of South Africa’s State Capture era, with widespread institutional corruption and political interference.

There were frequent leadership changes, politicised board appointments, and compromised procurement processes that hollowed out the airline.

In December 2019, SAA became the first South African state-owned enterprise to enter voluntary business rescue.

Just as administrators were trying to untangle the financial mess, the pandemic hit in early 2020, grounding global aviation. SAA ceased all commercial operations.

To save the airline, administrators downsized. They cut the workforce, cancelled most aircraft leases, and reduced SAA’s local and international routes.

SAA took to the skies again in September 2021, but it continues to struggle to make ends meet and is a shadow of its former self.

Manuel was critical towards what had happened to the once-proud national carrier, which operated for 90 years.

“SAA wasn’t privatised. It was stolen. We have to call it what it is: it was stolen and destroyed in the process,” he said.