Zuma visited the national airline on Friday to monitor progress at the state owned company‚ as part of his nine-point plan that seeks to support the SOCs.
Describing SAA as the face of South Africa‚ Zuma expressed his happiness with progress at the airline‚ following the “little bit” of a shift for it to be under the treasury.
Zuma said that “some people” had come to SAA without correcting anything and had left with a lot of money.
He declared that the government would never sell the airline‚ because it was one of the entities that contributed to the economy.
He promised that the government was going to put more efforts to make sure SAA takes off. “I believe for us to succeed we need to work hard. We must have plans‚ we must be ready to make this company do well.”
He said he’d visit more often and “you will give me coffee until you say‚ ‘It’s finished‚ Baba’.
South African Airways employees told managers that they still treat black people “like it is before 1994” and asked President Jacob Zuma to support moves to bring about transformation.
The South African Transport and Allied Workers Union (Satawu) said: “President‚ for the first [time] in history the current board of SAA is fighting for transformation.
“Why are they not receiving enough support from those who are supposed to support the board?” asked Matthew Ramosie‚ Satawu’s national co-ordinator.
Read Also:
Dudu Myeni‚ the controversial SAA chairperson‚ admitted that racism was rife at the state-owned company.
Mpho Moikangoa‚ a staff representative who is also the general secretary of South African Chefs Association‚ said SAA “is a toxic environment to work at. But they are there to serve people out of their own sweat – she [Dudu Myeni] must work hard because she listened to us.”
Myeni said the chief executive had been asked to establish a committee to deal with racism.
Staff also demanded to know who has interests in buying SAA and on what basis it would be sold.
Ramosie said: “We believe that the routes that were closed were closed deliberately to make sure that SAA does not make profit to allow those who want to buy it to do so because it will not be making profit.”
Zuma told his audience that the Cabinet had not discussed selling SAA. “We have taken no decision to sell this company. The day we decide so we will provide reasons why SAA should be sold.”
“Government is very clear, we will never sell this company, no matter what other people say,” Zuma said at SAA’s offices in Kempton Park.
The president acknowledged the issues raised by staff members and promised to respond during his next visit to SAA.
President Zuma said that government fully appreciates the positive role and contribution that State-Owned Companies can and should play in supporting the attainment of the National Development Plan (NDP) objectives‚ especially in the areas of stepping up investment‚ growing the economy‚ expanding the skills base and creating jobs.
