‘SA Express collapse rests on shoulders of Gordhan and Parliament’ – unions

The National Union of Metalworkers of South Africa (NUMSA) and the South African Cabin Crew Association (SACCA) have condemned the Department of Public Enterprises (DPE) for the role it played in “destroying” SA Express (SAX).

The state-owned entity (SOE) had its wings clipped following a final liquidation order granted by the Johannesburg High Court on Wednesday.

Liquidation

SA Express was placed under provisional liquidation in April 2020, after the regional airline faced grave financial trouble, which at some point saw it unable to pay employee salaries.

The unions said it rejects the DPE’s statement to absolve itself of any responsibility for the airline’s woes.

ALSO READ: SA Express officially liquidated, unopposed

“We want to remind Minister Pravin Gordhan that lies have short legs. We all watched and witnessed how he and the department enabled the deliberate destruction of SA Express. DPE objected to the liquidation of SAA by Airlink and it went to court to oppose the application.

“But in the case of SAX the DPE did not oppose this application even though it had the power to do so. It did not lift a finger to prevent the liquidation of the airline and it took a back seat throughout the entire process.

Who’s to blame

“The collapse of SAX rests squarely on the shoulders of Gordhan and also on parliament for failing to take care of our SOE’s and hold the minister accountable because of them we lost a valuable and viable SOE to corruption, and workers and their families paid the highest price through unemployment and poverty,” the unions said.

The unions said the fact that SAX has been liquidated is evidence that DPE has failed the airline and failed the public.

“It choked the airline and used the Covid-19 pandemic as a cover. DPE is like a deadly nanny which suffocates the children which have been placed in its care, and when you look at all our SOE’s they are all in various stages of distress and neglect as a result of DPE’s incompetence.”

Demands

The unions have demanded that SCOPA must do it work and convene public hearings to investigate the conduct of Gordhan and the entire Cabinet in terms of Chapter 4(3) of the Constitution which speaks about the role that Parliament plays in overseeing executive action.

“Cabinet, under the leadership of President Cyril Ramaphosa, was aware of these decisions and participated in the collapse of SA Express. The entire executive must take responsibility for the state that SAX is in today.”

To date many workers at SAX have not been re-employed because DPE single-handedly destroyed the aviation sector in South Africa with its mismanagement of SAA and SAX. We will continue to suffer as a country if there is no intervention in the disastrous decisions made by this cabinet and by DPE in particular,” the unions added.

ALSO READ: ‘Wings far from clipped’: SAA CEO says airline doesn’t need R3.5 billion injection