BusinessLive reports that Department of Public Enterprises (DPE) Minister Pravin Gordhan will brief the cabinet on the fate of SA Airways (SAA) on Monday, while the airline’s business rescue practitioners (BRPs) are due to meet unions.
SAA was put into business rescue in December 2019, but its future now hangs in the balance. The government’s mixed messaging over the broke state-owned airline has contributed to confusion, with the DPE on the one hand refusing to make more money available for the business rescue process and on the other hand saying no decision had been taken on restructuring the airline, which could see full-scale retrenchments. A draft proposal made by the BRPs to trade unions on Friday delved into the process for termination of all employees at the end of the month with severance packages. But, the BRPs indicated that for SAA to pay severance packages the airline would have to sell and dispose of its assets. In a joint statement on Sunday, the National Union of Metalworkers of SA (Numsa) and the SA Cabin Crew Association (Sacca), neither of which are part of the retrenchment negotiations as a result of not being consulted on the business rescue plan, said they rejected the BRPs’ proposed agreement. Meantime, Mashudu Raphetha of the National Transport Movement said his union wanted alternatives to be factored into the agreement with the BRPs. Derek Mans of trade union Solidarity advised that the unions would meet the BRPs on Monday at 11am, together with the CCMA to discuss the draft proposal.
- Read the full original of the report in the above regard by Claudi Mailovich and Genevieve Quintal at BusinessLive
- Read too, Without a clear plan, SAA stood no chance, at Mail & Guardian
Get other news reports at the SA Labour News home page