…Researched and contributed by Jack Sylva.
The National Union of Metalworkers of South Africa (NUMSA) has accused the Department of Public Enterprises of corruption in the appointment of a new board of South African Airways (SAA).
DPE Minister Pravin Gordhan announced the new board members on April 17, with Derek Hanekom as chairperson.
NUMSA accused Gordhan of secretly firing the old board of SAA on April 14 and replacing them with new board members the next day.
The union is deeply suspicious of the timing of the minister’s decision to replace the board members at this time.
Reasons for Suspicion
NUMSA spokesperson Phakamile Hlubi-Majola raised questions about why the previous board members were fired and what they failed to do to justify their removal.
The union said the sudden appointment of the new board members stinks of corruption because the DPE claims that the people chosen to lead the new board will finalize and hand over the airline to Takatso.
Hlubi-Majola asked why the old board is not doing the handover and why replace an interim board with another interim board, which will have to be replaced anyway, once the Takatso deal is finalized.
SAA Assets and Gordhan’s Alleged Role
Hlubi-Majola also pointed out that the SAA audited report ending March 2017 noted that the company’s total assets were valued at R14.594 billion but are currently valued at R3 billion.
She asked what happened to all of SAA’s assets and accused Gordhan of single-handedly destroying State-Owned Entities (SOEs) such as SAA, Denel, SA Express, and Eskom without suffering any consequences for gross mismanagement.
NUMSA will write to the portfolio committee chairperson on Public Enterprises to demand that they act quickly and set up a meeting with the former Director-General of the DPE.
In summary, the National Union of Metalworkers of South Africa (NUMSA) has accused the Department of Public Enterprises (DPE) of corruption in the appointment of a new board of South African Airways (SAA).
The union is deeply suspicious of the timing of the minister’s decision to replace the board members at this time and raises questions about why the previous board members were fired.
NUMSA accuses DPE Minister Pravin Gordhan of single-handedly destroying State-Owned Entities (SOEs) and not suffering any consequences for gross mismanagement.