Former SAA chief executive Vuyani Jarana answering questions in parliament, 7 July 2018. Picture: Ayanda Ndamane/ANA
He will vacate office at the end of August, after serving his notice period.
Jarana said in his resignation letter that the company’s strategy was being “systemically undermined”. He also recently complained about legislation holding back the company’s competitiveness.
In April, Jarana announced his turnaround strategy for the airline, which was bailed out by the government last year, with R5 billion allocated in the medium-term budget policy statement to help it face a looming debt crisis.
The airline had R19.1 billion worth of government guarantees, of which R14.5 billion were already used and, in March next year, one billion of this will be maturing.
The government said the allocation was to help SAA repay this debt.
“In general, SAA is not generating sufficient cash to repay its total debt and will have to negotiate with lenders to refinance or extend maturity dates.”
The airline was briefly believed to be the second state-owned enterprise undergoing a split and unbundling, which SAA denied.
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