City Press reports that in response to queries submitted to the Department of Public Enterprises, spokesman Adrian Lackay, made clear there was no chance of the former CEO of SA Airways (SAA), Vuyani Jarana, coming back following his shock resignation.  

The SA Cabin Crew Association (SACCA) and the National Union of Metalworkers of SA (Numsa) last week submitted a memorandum to SAA in which they demanded that Jarana be reinstated.  Lackay stated:  “The former SAA CEO resigned of his own accord.  He will not be reinstated.  The manner in which he resigned, despite the board’s requests to conduct himself in a responsible manner with regards to his resignation, exposed the airline to considerable risk amongst lenders and suppliers.”  The two unions also demanded that Thandeka Mgoduso, Martin Kingson, Peter Tshisevhe and Geoff Rothschild be removed from the board.  Lackay indicated that Gordhan was in the process of reviewing the SAA board, given that there are four non-executive director vacancies.  SAA spokesperson Tlali Tlali confirmed that the airline was in receipt of the memoranda received from the two trade unions that represent employees at SAA and SAA Technical respectively.  In his resignation letter, Jarana wrote:  “We were able to secure R3.5 billion of emergency funding from local banks as a bridge facility. This is what helped us be able to operate from December 2018 to date. The R3.5 billion facility will be depleted in June 2019.”

• Read the full original of Justin Brown’s report in the above regard at City Press

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