President Jacob Zuma on Tuesday defended South African Airways chairwoman Dudu Myeni’s track record, before MPs demanded his resignation and her removal in a heated debate on the troubled national carrier.
Economic Freedom Fighters leader Julius Malema hinted at an improper relationship between Zuma and Myeni before loudly proclaiming that Finance Minister Pravin Gordhan was the country’s only hope at economic salvation and accusing Zuma of harassing him.
“Defend this minister of finance. This is the only thing we have in this country,” Malema said.
“If you can’t listen to this man, this country will collapse. This criminal which is sitting here is troubling this man. If you are not going to defend the minister of finance and you defend a criminal you must know there will be no country left,” he shouted, ignoring warnings that he was exceeding his alotted speaking time in the debate in the National Assembly.
“You must remove Honourable Zuma from power,” he concluded.
The debate was proposed by the EFF, whose Godrich Gardee called Myeni “a corrupt bully” who could not be trusted with a state entity that is in line to receive further financial support from the government.
“Mr President, we don’t want your friend to be the chairperson of a state entity,” Gardee said.
The Democratic Alliance’s deputy finance spokesman Alf Lees, who called Myeni a “corporate warlord”, said it was clear that SAA was technically bankrupt and should it go under, the cost to every taxpayer of it defaulting on government-guaranteed loans worth nearly R15 billion would be considerable.
“Should these guarantees be called in it would amount to Pravin Gordhan reaching into your back pocket and taking R 2 771,00 from each and every personal income taxpayer.”
He said her re-appointment to the post of chairwoman, which Gordhan last week conceded was a compromise he had to swallow, was a gainless pact for the finance minister and the public.
“This is a classic ‘devil’s bargain’ where Minister Gordhan has agreed to retain Dudu Myeni on the SAA board and in return gets something that he really does not want. He gets a new board that is destined never to meet the conditions that he has laid out for it.”
The DA would therefore push ahead with a court bid to have her appointment for another year overturned.
Steve Swart from the African Christian Democratic Party said his party shared the view that Myeni’s reappointment was irrational given the company’s losses of R1.3 billion for the first quarter 2016, the irrational suspension of staff, her attempted interference to change Airbus contract and the threat of losing its lucrative Hong Kong route.
“We share the view that this cannot be allowed because the airline is in dire straits.”
The debate followed a quarterly presidential question-and-answer session in which Zuma looked lost as he fumbled to answer the DA’s questions on the economy, the EFF and Cope having walked out in protest at his presence in the National Assembly because they no longer consider him a legitimate leader.
Asked why Myeni was allowed to remain at the head of SAA while losses at the airline mounted, Zuma responded that others had not fared better.
“Firstly SAA has been in difficulties for a long time,” he said.
“We have been trying in many ways and there have been different CEOs… I don’t see any difference from what she has done and what other chairs have done,” he said, after noting that the SAA board had been working together with National Treasury to turn around the airline.
When the Democratic Alliance pointed out that Myeni’s name was not put forward by treasury for membership of the new board announced last month, Zuma replied that he was not present at the Cabinet meeting that appointed the board.
“I was not even there… So I did not even argue in the Cabinet.”
Myeni was locked in, and ultimately lost, a standoff with National Treasury last year over her insistence to renegotiate a contract with Airbus and though this happened last year before his return to the portfolio, it was widely expected that Gordhan would replace her with another chairperson.
SAA is finally set to table its results for the 2014/15 financial year this month after treasury agreed to grant the troubled airline a R4.7 billion going concern guarantee.
South Africa Today – South Africa News
