Charles Molele
THE South African Communist Party has launched a scathing attack on Minerals and Resources Minister Gwede Mantashe following his remarks that the South African Airways should be sold to private buyers if it cannot generate profit for itself.
“For a minister of State, like comrade Gwede, to speak literally about one particular airline when he is a minister of the State… it’s just disgraceful,” SACP’s first deputy general secretary Solly Mapaila told News24 on Monday.
“His views in this regard are extremely ill-informed, completely ill-informed.”
Mantashe, the ANC’s national chairperson and former chairperson of the SACP, told a reporter at the ANC’s 108th birthday celebrations in Komga, Eastern Cape, that if SAA is not performing, then it must be sold.
He also said if SAA wanted to survive, it should start to make a profit and stand on its own. Otherwise, it should be closed down or taken over by a more capable entity.
“The SACP disagrees with Mantashe and the manner in which he came across,” said the party’s spokesperson, Dr Alex Mashilo.
Mashilo said the SACP rejected Mantashe’s utterances, which contradicted the party’s strategic approach shared by its alliance partner, the ANC, and its President Cyril Ramaphosa on how to turn-around the beleaguered airline.
“The SACP shares a common position with the ANC on SAA. We want SAA to be turned around to thrive and serve as the mainstay in the domestic aviation industry with successful regional, continental and overseas routes,” said Mashilo.
Ramaphosa differs sharply with Mantashe on the future of SAA as he believes it can be rescued and turned around into a profitable business.
“On Friday, 7 February 2020, before he left to the African Union Summit held in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia, over the past weekend, President Cyril Ramaphosa emphasised the strategic importance of, and the role that should be played by a turned around SAA,” said the party.
“He made it very clear that government does not agree with the routes cancellations announced by the joint business rescue practitioners on Thursday, 6 February 2020. The President further said the Ministry of Public Enterprises would release a statement taking forward what he said. This did indeed happen on Friday.”
Mantashe’s comments came on the back of a decision by business rescue practitioners, currently at the helm of the national carrier, to cut all domestic routes, retaining only its flights between Johannesburg and Cape Town.
SAA was placed under voluntary business rescue in December, in an attempt to help restructure the ailing airline.
Finance minister Tito Mboweni on recently said it would be better to close down SAA and start a new airline.
“It unlikely that this would be sorted out, so my view is to close SAA down,” he said.
“Close it down and start a new airline. All together, invite [CEO of Standard Bank] Sim Tshabalala and others to come together and form a new airline.”
Mboweni said the reason he thought closing down SAA would be better than continuing efforts to turn it around, is that it was unlikely the airline would find a private-sector partner.