Finance Minister Tito Mboweni has announced that government has allocated another R10.5 billion to the broke airline.
JOHANNESBURG – South African Airways (SAA) staff are calling on citizens to give the failed airline “one more chance” after the backlash over government’s latest decision to allocate billions more of taxpayers rands to SAA.
Finance Minister Tito Mboweni on Wednesday announced that government allocated another R10.5 billion to the broke airline.
This money will be made available by reducing the funds allocated to national departments and their entities as well as cutting from provincial and local government grants.
The South African Cabin Crew Association‘s president Zazi Sibanyoni-Mugambi said this latest taxpayer bailout would only work if management was committed to ensuring the money was not flushed down the drain.
“Government is fully responsible for the situation at SAA. As a shareholder, they’ve been at the helm of the years and years of corruption at SAA, not the workers. We have to get it right this time, we are calling for that to allow SAA to have a chance to survive and not be a burden on the taxpayer.”
The Organisation Undoing Tax Abuse‘s Wayne Duvenage said this money would be better spent by the National Prosecuting Authority, the education sector or even on much-needed housing.
“We have bigger issues and bigger things to do with that R10.5 billion.”
The National Union of Metalworkers of South Africa Irvin Jim said this boycott was nonsense, while the Cabin Crew Association has warned South Africans that boycotting the airline would just mean another waste of taxpayers’ money.