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Cabinet approves SAA appointments

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Two people have been appointed to the SA Airways board and six resignations accepted, Public Enterprises Minister Lynne Brown said on Thursday.

Cabinet approved the appointment of Dr John Tambi and Anthony Dixon at its meeting in Cape Town on Wednesday, she said.

Tambi had extensive experience in project management, planning and engineering with specialisation in the transport sector. Dixon had 29 years experience in accounting and auditing.

Both were expected to help with the airline’s turnaround strategy and poor corporate governance.

Duduzile Myeni was retained as the board’s chairwoman and Yakhe Kwinana as a board member.

The appointments were followed by two special general meetings of the board on Thursday. Brown said at the first meeting six resignations were considered and adopted.

“In accepting their resignations, I wish to convey my gratitude to those members for their time and effort spent in trying to address the challenges facing the airline. I wish them well in their endeavours.”

Brown said her intervention was aimed at stabilising SAA, which had been loss-making for the past few years.

“The board is an interim board and the intention of the board is for it to take us past this period.”

She said the interim period would allow her to understand exactly what was happening at the airline and allow for a turnaround strategist to be appointed.

The goal of the strategist, which she envisioned as more a company than a person, would be to create stronger financial sustainability.

“The essence is SAA should be living off its balance sheet.”

On Friday, Brown’s department announced that four non-executive board members had resigned following an intention to remove certain members at the special general meeting on Thursday.

Brown was acting in her formal capacity as the designated representative of the sole shareholder of the airline, the South African government.

“It is a pity that some board members have chosen this path. The meeting is intended to give them the opportunity to respond on the record,” she said at the time.

Brown and Finance Minister Nhlanhla Nene were leading an inter-ministerial task team, which included directors general, focusing on the future of the airline. SAPA


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