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- About 200 staff members of state-owned South African Airways will be let go at the end of March this year.
- They had opted for a government-run training scheme instead of taking a voluntary severance package.
- The National Union of Metalworkers of SA and the SA Cabin Crew Association claim it is still ordinary workers at SAA that have to pay the price for corruption and mismanagement at the airline.
About 200 staff members of state-owned South African Airways (SAA) will be let go at the end of March this year.
These employees chose not to take voluntary severance packages during SAA's business rescue process and opted to be placed on a government-run training scheme.
SAA said on Tuesday that it cannot comment on the issue as it an internal staff matter.
Receiving a memorandum from protesting members of the National Union of Metalworkers of SA (Numsa) and the SA Cabin Crew Association (SACCA) in Pretoria on Tuesday, Department of Public Enterprises (DPE) Director-General Kgathatso Tlhakudi said SAA has unfortunately found itself in a dire financial situation due to state capture that was "enabled" at the airline - as documented in the Zondo Commission report.
Numsa and SACCA, however, claim that ordinary workers keep paying the price for corruption and mismanagement at SAA and are now facing an uncertain future.
SAA resumed operations on 23 September 2021 after being the first state-owned enterprise to go into business rescue in December 2019. Bailouts to the tune of more than R30 billion failed to save the airline after more than a decade of financial mismanagement. It exited business rescue in April this year.
In terms of SAA's rescue plan, the workforce had to be reduced from about 4 700 to only about 1 000. In an effort to save more jobs, it was proposed in consultations between the DPE and unions that another 1 000 employees be placed on a temporary training scheme for a year so that they can then be absorbed into the new airline as and when new positions become available. The training scheme option did not form part of the rescue plan and no money was allocated in the plan for this option.
The majority of employees - 3 041 - ended up opting for severance packages and the remainder went through a section 189 retrenchment process. Of the R10.3 billion the rescue plan required, about R2.2 billion was to pay for packages and Section 189 retrenchments. The training scheme never really got off the ground.
According to Numsa and SACCA, their members were informed by SAA on Monday that the training programme failed because the Commission for Conciliation, Mediation and Arbitration (CCMA) was unable to provide a stipend, the Transport Education Training Authority (TETA) was unable to commence with training, and SAA is not able to use most of those on the programme.
The two unions claim the CCMA was unable to provide a stipend because the condition for any entity to receive financial support for such a training scheme is that audited financial statements are available. SAA has not provided financial statements for about three financial years.
NUMSA and SACCA claim TETA set aside funds to provide training, but wanted to manage the process and pay service providers itself. The two unions claim SAA, on the other hand, wanted to control the process "and that is why the entire project collapsed".
In a memorandum the two unions handed over to the DPE, they demand proof that all placements at SAA followed proper HR protocol and that those who were appointed have the qualifications to back it up. The unions further claim SAA has a bloated management and demand that the conditions and benefits which workers had before the retrenchment process during business rescue, be re-instated.
This is not the first time that those employees who opted for the training scheme have protested. In October 2021, barely three weeks after SAA took to the skies again, Numsa and SACCA members who opted for the programme, protested because they felt "overlooked", because the programme had not kicked off yet.
As for SAA's deal with a chosen strategic equity partner, the Takatso Consortium, the unions demand to know more details about it. The Presidency announced last week that the sale and purchase process of a majority stake in SAA has now been concluded and signed by the DPE and Takatso.
According to a statement issued by the Presidency, Cabinet was informed that further progress had been made in the disposal of 51% of shares in SAA to Takatso. It has been more than eight months since the DPE announced Takatso as strategic equity partner for SAA. The deal would enable the state-owned flag carrier to operate without further government bailouts.
The next step involves the approval of this transaction by various regulatory bodies. The Competition Commission would likely be one such regulatory body.
Takatso consists of Global Airways, which owns low-cost airline LIFT, and infrastructure investment firm Harith. It is not yet involved in the running of SAA. The proposed SAA deal is expected to see Takatso put R3 billion into the airline over a three-year period to enable it to keep flying.
According to the national budget tabled by Finance Minister Enoch Godongwana in Parliament on Wednesday, there won't be any additional funding for SAA from state coffers this year.
Global Airways has recently applied to have one of its own subsidiaries - Global Aerotech - placed in business rescue.
