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The Organisation Undoing Tax Abuse (OUTA) believes that SAA has a fighting chance to return to profitability with the appointment of new CEO Vuyani Jarana.

Jarana’s business experience and executive acumen will be an asset to the troubled airline.

“Naturally we would have expected the new appointee to have an extensive knowledge of the airline industry, however this is not essential and we have faith in the new CEO’s abilities to rise to the challenge and fix the mess that Dudu Myeni has left the airline in,” says Wayne Duvenage, OUTA Chairperson.

Myeni chairs the SAA board and, under her management, the airline has needed repeated government bailouts, the most recent being the R2.208 billion bailout handed over in June. OUTA is concerned about rumours of even more bailouts being needed.

Myeni’s term expires on 31 August. OUTA has an ongoing court action to declare her a delinquent director and block her from such positions.

“OUTA trusts that Mr Jarana will seek to engage with the talented people that Ms Myeni and her entourage purged from the airline over the past two years, many of whom have vast experience at SAA and were removed simply because they had prevented corruption from taking place at the airline.

Some of these purged employees are currently on suspension or have recently accepted settlement offers which they had little choice but to take under the circumstances,” says Duvenage.

“What this airline needs is the level of talent it once had but, more importantly, it needs courageous people who stood up for South Africa and put their careers on the line to intervene in the plundering and maladministration under Myeni’s watch.”

Issued by OUTA