SAA board faces dismissal

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Johannesburg - South African Airways, the unprofitable national airline that relies on state funding, is planning to fire members of the board at a meeting tomorrow, according to the government.

“One of the items on the agenda is the removal of some board members,” a government spokesman Colin Cruywagen said by phone today.

Four non-executive directors already resigned from the carrier last week ahead of the special general meeting convened by Public Enterprises Minister Lynne Brown.

SAA, as the airline is known, is awaiting a financial support guarantee from the Treasury to continue as a going concern and has delayed the publication of earnings for the 12 months ending March 2014.

The carrier wants to replace its aging fleet of long-haul aircraft with new Boeing and Airbus models and has named KPMG to advise on the process.

Brown said on October 17 that she and Finance Minister Nhlanhla Nene would lead a team focusing on the future of SAA, with the aim of getting the company to survive off its own balance sheet.

SAA spokesman Tlali Tlali declined to comment beyond that statement. - Bloomberg News
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http://www.iol.co.za/business/companies/saa-board-faces-dismissal-1.1768933
 
NO BAILOUTS FOR SAA, SAPO: NENE

The country's embattled state-owned entities (SOEs), including SA Airways and the SA Post Office (Sapo), will not be bailed out, according to Finance Minister Nhanhla Nene.

Instead, they will be restructured to make them financially sustainable, he said in the Medium-Term Budget Policy Statement (MTBPS), tabled at Parliament on Wednesday.

"Over the medium term, any funding of state-owned companies will be contingent on the implementation of sound restructuring plans with strong government oversight.

"Given fiscal constraints over the next two years, capitalisation will only be funded by the sale of non-strategic state assets, and will not be drawn from tax revenue, or added to the debt of national government."

Nene said SOEs should operate from the strength of their balance sheets.

"In line with the successful restructuring of the Development Bank of Southern Africa, reforms are being undertaken at SA Airways, SA Express, the SA Post Office and the Land Bank."

Earlier in October, MPs heard the cash-strapped, strike-hammered post office was on the brink of collapse.

There have also been various probes into the mismanagement of funds at the Sapo.

National carrier SAA has consistently pleaded with Treasury over the years for a cash injection, and has applied for a government loan guarantee so it can continue operating as a going concern.

Two years ago, Treasury approved a R5 billion guarantee for SAA.


Source : Sapa /cp/rod
Date : 22 Oct 2014 14:11
 
The country's embattled state-owned entities (SOEs), including SA Airways and the SA Post Office (Sapo), will not be bailed out, according to Finance Minister Nhanhla Nene.
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Awwww shamepies, is there something wrong with the State's cash flow and fiscus?

Should've done that a LONG time ago...

hint : privatize!
 
Garyvdh said:
"Over the medium term, any funding of state-owned companies will be contingent on the implementation of sound restructuring plans with strong government oversight.
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Because doing the same thing again and again and expecting a different result isn't a sure sign of insanity?
 
Jola said:
Would you buy shares in SAA ? I certainly would not !
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You could very well have one of the big airlines like IAG that owns British Airways and Iberia or Air France-KLM that could see big potential in SAA. They could see past the bad management and see a airline that could thrive. Or maybe that is just me being a optimist. Dont know.
 
So far Eskom, SAA and SAPO are all bad examples of government's management abilities. Clearly any thought of nationalisation is not the way. Maybe this strained financial situation will lead to privatisation.
 
CABINET APPROVES SAA APPOINTMENTS

Two people have been appointed to the SA Airways board and six resignations accepted, Public Enterprises Minister Lynne Brown said on Thursday.

Cabinet approved the appointment of Dr John Tambi and Anthony Dixon at its meeting in Cape Town on Wednesday, she said.

Tambi had extensive experience in project management, planning and engineering with specialisation in the transport sector. Dixon had 29 years experience in accounting and auditing.

Both were expected to help with the airline's turnaround strategy and poor corporate governance.

Duduzile Myeni was retained as the board's chairwoman and Yakhe Kwinana as a board member.

The appointments were followed by two special general meetings of the board on Thursday. Brown said at the first meeting six resignations were considered and adopted.

"In accepting their resignations, I wish to convey my gratitude to those members for their time and effort spent in trying to address the challenges facing the airline. I wish them well in their endeavours."

Brown said her intervention was aimed at stabilising SAA, which had been loss-making for the past few years.

"The board is an interim board and the intention of the board is for it to take us past this period."

She said the interim period would allow her to understand exactly what was happening at the airline and allow for a turnaround strategist to be appointed.

The goal of the strategist, which she envisioned as more a company than a person, would be to create stronger financial sustainability.

"The essence is SAA should be living off its balance sheet."

On Friday, Brown's department announced that four non-executive board members had resigned following an intention to remove certain members at the special general meeting on Thursday.

Brown was acting in her formal capacity as the designated representative of the sole shareholder of the airline, the South African government.

"It is a pity that some board members have chosen this path. The meeting is intended to give them the opportunity to respond on the record," she said at the time.

Brown and Finance Minister Nhlanhla Nene were leading an inter-ministerial task team, which included directors general, focusing on the future of the airline.


Source : Sapa /je/ks/lp/th
Date : 23 Oct 2014 16:34
 
BROWN WANTS 'AGILE' SAA BOARD

Cabinet has retained two members of the SA Airways Board and appointed two new ones, Public Enterprises Minister Lynne Brown said on Thursday.

Dr John Tambi and Anthony Dixon were appointed, while board chairwoman Duduzile Myeni and Yakhe Kwinana were retained.

Brown said SAA CEO Monwabisi Kalawe and CFO Wolf Meyer would continue serving on the board.

Six board member resignations were adopted at a special general meeting on Thursday.

Brown explained the format of the new board.

"What I wanted was something more agile and mobile with harder skills. Included in that is institutional memory," she told reporters in Cape Town.

"This is the situation of damned if you do and damned if you don't," she said, explaining that Myeni and Kwinana were the longest-serving board members.

Brown admitted the board had been factionalised.

"Actually, individually, they are intellectually astute and incredibly hard-working people, but collectively it just didn't work and I had to make that decision."

The board's immediate responsibility was to bring about stability and process matters beyond factions and whether they liked somebody or not, she said.

Tambi had extensive experience in project management, planning and engineering with specialisation in the transport sector. Dixon had 29 years' experience in accounting and auditing.

Both were expected to help implement the airline's turnaround strategy and eliminate poor corporate governance.

Brown said her intervention was aimed at stabilising SAA, which had been loss-making for the past few years.

"The board is an interim board and the intention of the board is for it to take us past this period."

She said the interim period would allow her to understand what was happening at the airline and allow for a turnaround strategist to be appointed.

The goal of the strategist, which she envisioned as more a company than a person, would be to create stronger financial sustainability.

"The essence is SAA should be living off its balance sheet."

On Friday, Brown's department announced that four non-executive SAA board members had resigned following an intention to remove certain members at the upcoming special general meeting.

Brown was acting in her formal capacity as the designated representative of the sole shareholder of the airline, the South African government.

"I can only assume that the members resigned because I was going to remove them anyway. There were many, many various reasons why all the board members resigned and all of them were pleased to have been able to have the opportunity to serve the country and serve the airline," she said.

Brown and Finance Minister Nhlanhla Nene were leading an inter-ministerial task team, which included directors general, focusing on the future of the airline.


Source : Sapa /je/th/ks/lp
Date : 23 Oct 2014 16:50
 
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