Finance Minister Pravin Gordhan told business leaders on Tuesday that National Treasury wants to see things change at South African Airways (SAA) following years of non-profitability and scandals.
This‚ Gordhan told a business breakfast‚ would require a “whole new board” of “credible people…with the right balance of skill and exposure”.
This month‚ SAA made headlines for appointing unknown “boutique financier” BnP capital to advise it on the restructuring of its R15-billion debt and raise funding in return for a R250-million success fee.
Johannesburg-based BnP Capital was appointed ahead of several other bidders‚ including Nedbank and Deloitte. The contract has since been cancelled.
“I have not had the opportunity to get into the details...of the cancellation and the alleged cancellation fee‚” Gordhan said.
“But I will certainly enquire into it so that we can understand what SAA has been up to. If there are issues in relation to the non-compliance of the PFMA (Public Finance Management Act) we will get people to look into it.”
Gordhan was‚ however‚ certain that changes were needed with regards the SAA board.
“What we are quite clear on as Treasury is that we do require a whole new board‚” he said.
“Once that board is in place‚ we require experienced management team‚ which might include existing people and new blood as well.
“Thirdly‚ we need the implementation of a turnaround strategy to continue.
“Fourth‚ we need to find a way to put SAA into a sustainable financial path so that they don’t actually keep coming back for guarantees.”
The minister laid out the qualities he believed were required for successful board members.
“We have to go back and do some political homework to make sure that we can get credible people onto the board‚ but also people with the right balance of skill and exposure to take the airline to the next phase of upward development than some of the crisis that we face now‚” he said.
SAA needs a whole new board of credible people: Gordhan
This‚ Gordhan told a business breakfast‚ would require a “whole new board” of “credible people…with the right balance of skill and exposure”.
This month‚ SAA made headlines for appointing unknown “boutique financier” BnP capital to advise it on the restructuring of its R15-billion debt and raise funding in return for a R250-million success fee.
Johannesburg-based BnP Capital was appointed ahead of several other bidders‚ including Nedbank and Deloitte. The contract has since been cancelled.
“I have not had the opportunity to get into the details...of the cancellation and the alleged cancellation fee‚” Gordhan said.
“But I will certainly enquire into it so that we can understand what SAA has been up to. If there are issues in relation to the non-compliance of the PFMA (Public Finance Management Act) we will get people to look into it.”
Gordhan was‚ however‚ certain that changes were needed with regards the SAA board.
“What we are quite clear on as Treasury is that we do require a whole new board‚” he said.
“Once that board is in place‚ we require experienced management team‚ which might include existing people and new blood as well.
“Thirdly‚ we need the implementation of a turnaround strategy to continue.
“Fourth‚ we need to find a way to put SAA into a sustainable financial path so that they don’t actually keep coming back for guarantees.”
The minister laid out the qualities he believed were required for successful board members.
“We have to go back and do some political homework to make sure that we can get credible people onto the board‚ but also people with the right balance of skill and exposure to take the airline to the next phase of upward development than some of the crisis that we face now‚” he said.
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