@tito_mboweni @MogajaneD @CyrilRamaphosa It had become patently clear to you, way before the advent of Covid-19, that SAA would not survive. The BRP process could not provide relief. In fact all they have done is enjoy the income yet they knew nothing about
airline operations and provided no value. The easiest option for them was the standard liquidation that they always propose. The pandemic has decimated both airlines and the markets they served. It will become monumentally difficult to incentivise people to
travel for leisure. Fear of infection and death away from home have been edged in the minds of people like never before. When markets are dead, the airlines that served them cannot survive. SAA is de facto dead. But, it is the indisputable responsibility
of government to make sure that its employees are not victims as well. They must include a soft landing fund for reasonable retrenchment packages for all employees. The state can't claim innocence in the demise of SAA anyway. The next challenge is;
Can a new SAA be recreated and for what markets? The answer is yes. And the markets have to be defined accurately. They will not sustain a profitable operation overnight. But they will grow. However, SAA cannot operate internationally on it's own.
It will require a partnership with the likes of Ethopian airlines to share profits and losses. This where governments come in. SA has a very big role to play in Africa in this area. It's good the challenge came with President Ramaphosa at the helm here and
at the OAU. An African intercontinental airline, with SAA and Ethiopian Airlines as anchored, has been an African ambition since the early 70s. Thank Covid-19 for providing the opportunity. Recreating a new SAA must be handled very professionally.
We must also accept that capitalism as we know it is now dead. Most governments are now running welfare states. This will not be reversed soon. The public will revolt. SAA has been and can, in a new format, play an important t role in African trade.
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