{"id":373758,"date":"2020-11-04T06:41:00","date_gmt":"2020-11-04T04:41:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/mybroadband.co.za\/news\/?p=373758"},"modified":"2020-11-04T06:45:22","modified_gmt":"2020-11-04T04:45:22","slug":"dont-fly-saa-outa","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/mybroadband.co.za\/news\/motoring\/373758-dont-fly-saa-outa.html","title":{"rendered":"Don’t fly SAA – Outa"},"content":{"rendered":"

The Organisation Undoing Tax Abuse (Outa) has called on South African businesses and consumers to boycott South African Airways (SAA).<\/p>\n

This followed Finance Minister Tito Mboweni\u2019s announcement that the government will allocate R10.5 billion to SAA to help it implement its business rescue plan.<\/p>\n

Mboweni made this statement during his medium-term budget speech on Wednesday 28 October, which drew sharp criticism from many commentators.<\/p>\n

Sygnia CEO Magda Wierzycka said<\/strong><\/a> the government is using money which can be better spent elsewhere on trying to save something completely unsalvageable.<\/p>\n

DA shadow minister of finance Geordin Hill-Lewis said the ANC government has chosen to cut essential services to the public, like education and policing, to fund another bailout of SAA.<\/p>\n

He added that Mboweni should have held the line and refused this bailout and that the decision shows the ANC\u2019s disregard for poor South Africans.<\/p>\n

Outa has now called for a boycott of SAA to send a strong message to the government that further tax wastage will not be tolerated.<\/p>\n

Outa CEO Wayne Duvenage said since 2007, SAA has cost the taxpayer more than R72 billion in bailouts – R54 billion in treasury grants and R19 million in government guarantees.<\/p>\n

\u201cThis money could have been used instead to stimulate the economy by creating real and sustainable jobs,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n

Outa raised concerns regarding the need for the state to waste more funds on SAA, saying the latest R10.5-billion injection will not be the last.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe current aviation industry climate and economic environment is the ideal time for the state to close down this once-successful airline that was ruined through mismanagement and corruption,\u201d said Duvenage.<\/p>\n

Outa said keeping unjustifiable SOEs afloat is a waste of the state\u2019s scarce resources and SAA is now nothing more than a vanity project.<\/p>\n

Not the first call to boycott SAA<\/h3>\n

This is not the first time there has been a call to boycott the struggling airline and to not fly SAA.<\/p>\n

Earlier this year, Vestact CEO Paul Theron said<\/strong><\/a> SAA is a massive drain on the economy, and the sensible and patriotic thing to do is to boycott the airline.<\/p>\n

He explained that the embattled airline relied on funding to operate, which is becoming increasingly difficult.<\/p>\n

\u201cThey are going to keep borrowing money on less and less favourable terms every week until the whole circus goes down,\u201d Theron said.<\/p>\n

\u201cSAA flights are empty. No one in their right minds would book a flight long in advance if there is a risk that the airline will go under.\u201d<\/p>\n

Theron said an airline is a challenging business, which is made even worse when it is owned by the state and run by amateurs.<\/p>\n

He said the SAA is using state subsidies to compete unfairly and has been fined billions for anti-competitive behaviour in the past.<\/p>\n

This view is shared by many other commentators, including former FNB CEO and entrepreneur Michael Jordaan.<\/p>\n

Commenting on SAA\u2019s losses and mounting bailouts, Jordaan said flying wealthy people at a loss shouldn\u2019t be a national priority.<\/p>\n

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Outa CEO Wayne Duvenage interview<\/h3>\n