Interesting comment in The Times (the SA Newspaper), March 20, reflecting the cynicism of the SAA board allegedly awarding the airline’s outgoing ceo a multi-million Rand settlement (amount undisclosed) just after the carrier receives yet another rescue package from government. It had asked for R5,2bn, but got only R1,6bn.

 “The state is no longer willing to allow the parastatals to act with impunity

EDITORIAL: PRESIDENT Kgalema Motlanthe and his cabinet should be applauded for taking a stand against the SAA board’s shameful decision to grant a golden handshake to the airline’s axed chief executive, Khaya Ngqula, who is still under investigation for misconduct.
The cabinet’s decision to seek legal advice on whether the board had acted unlawfully by entering into a multi- million rand financial settlement with Ngqula, without first consulting the government, its sole shareholder, is also encouraging because it indicates that the state is no longer willing to allow parastatals to act with impunity.
A month ago, a frustrated national treasury director- general, Lesetja Kganyago, said SAA was like an “unreformed alcoholic” who keeps asking for more. This was after the state was asked for the umpteenth time to bail out the struggling national carrier to the tune of R1.6-billion.
For far too long, the government has sat quietly on the sidelines while chief executives and boards of under-performing state-owned companies paid themselves huge salaries and unjustifiable bonuses. Now Motlanthe and his ministers are saying enough to the shenanigans that have been going on at SAA and in other under-performing state-owned enterprises .They have told the department of public enterprises to prepare a report on the state of all parastatals.
The department will look into issues of governance, management and the reasons for under-performance in each of these companies.These are all positive steps by the government, and these measures might go a long way towards fixing what is wrong at SAA and in similar companies.

We hope the urgency that has been shown by Motlanthe’s cabinet in dealing with the rot will continue to prevail even under the next administration.”