Cape Town - Vuyani Jarana will start as new CEO of South African Airways (SAA) on 1 November 2017, the airline announced on Friday afternoon.
"The decision follows the conclusion of negotiations with his current employer on his release date,” said SAA Spokesperson Tlali Tlali.
Fin24 reported on Thursday that National Treasury was hoping Jarana would start in October. His appointment had already been announced by Treasury on August 3.
According to the statement by SAA, the appointment of Jarana will bring stability at the executive tier of the airline’s leadership.
It will also enable acting CEO Musa Zwane to return to the maintenance subsidiary, SAA Technical, where he is a full time CEO.
SAA said it has had eight CEOs over an 11-year period, including Zwane in his current acting position. Zwane was appointed on 14 November 2015.
One of Jarana’s major responsibilities will be to ensure the effective implementation of SAA’s recently finalised five-year corporate plan. SAA must return to commercial sustainability in the shortest time possible, according to the statement.
When Jarana was appointed, he said he wanted to see more people with airline and international experience joining him at SAA.
"The board of directors will support Mr Jarana and his executive team in every way possible and will exercise fiduciary responsibilities on SAA in accordance with the law and in line with the expectations of the shareholder," said Tlali.
“This is an important step forward that will boost staff morale and instill confidence in our business from suppliers, customers and stakeholders at large.”
Fin24 reported last week that National Treasury has drafted a special appropriation bill to recapitalise SAA with a R10bn bailout, which it hopes to table in a special parliamentary sitting.
* Vodacom informed its shareholders in a Sens statement issued on Friday that Jarana, a non-executive member of the board, had resigned from the board of directors of YeboYethu - Vodacom's BEE share scheme - with effect from Thursday 21 September 2017.
The Vodcom board thanked Vuyani for his valuable contribution to the company.
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