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Six non-executive directors have been appointed to the interim board of South African Airways.
The announcement comes a week after the Cabinet asked the Department of Public Enterprises (DPE), headed by Minister Pravin Gordhan, to finalize the appointments to the interim board. The new appointments have a variety of backgrounds, ranging from academic to legal, financial and aviation.
The DPE said in a statement that the new board will “restore proper governance and oversight” at the airline, during the implementation of its corporate rescue plan. SAA was put on business bailout a year ago as it faced a liquidity crisis.
The new appointments are:
Geoff Qhena (president)
Qhena is a former CEO of Industrial Development Corporation and is a qualified public accountant.
Peter Tshisevhe
Tshisevhe is a mergers and acquisitions attorney. They are retaining him from the previous board to maintain continuity, the DPE said. Tshisevhe is a director and partner at the Johannesburg law firm TGR Attorneys and a part-time professor at Wits Law School.
June Crawford
Crawford is an aviation and tourism professional; directs the South African Business Council Aviation Task Force. She was the executive director of the South African Airline Representatives Board. She is also a former Director of Air Traffic and Navigation Services and Vice President of the South African Tourism Council.
Bembe Zwane
Zwane is a former executive at Imperial Logistics and Equity Aviation. She is an aviation entrepreneur and co-owner of an aviation training solutions provider, car rental business, and aviation logistics business.
Professor Edna van Harte
Van Harte is a former dean of the College of Military Sciences at the South African National Defense Force Military Academy. She is also a former president of the Defense Services Commission and has served on various boards and commissions, the DPE said.
Nick fadugba
Fadugba is an aviation professional, with experience in consulting and promoting aviation development on the African continent and leading the African Airlines Association. He has served as President of the African Commercial Aviation Association and has participated in discussions on a single African air transport market.
In the medium-term budget policy statement, Finance Minister Tito Mboweni announced that the SAA would receive R10.5 billion for the business rescue process. Funds had to re-prioritize from national departments and their entities, as well as conditional grants to provincial and local governments. In a briefing to Parliament, business bailout practitioner Siviwe Dongwana explained that the fund would go towards employee-related payments, including downsizing packages, refunds to consumers for missed tickets, the capitalization of subsidiaries of SAA, Mango and SAA, working and technical capital to restart operations. According to Gordhan, this was a better option than liquidation, Fin24 previously reported.
Earlier this week, the DPE issued a statement stating that certain unions were trying to undermine the business rescue process at the airline, as they wanted to reject the salary deferrals agreed to last week on Friday. The department said it considered fair pay for three months of outstanding wages. Some unions are now seeking full settlement of pending salaries.
