'Henpecked' Nene must act to save SAA – DA

The ‘henpecked’ Finance Minister Nhlanhla Nene needed to take action to deal with SAA, which was in ‘acute’ financial distress and currently trading in insolvent circumstances, DA finance spokesperson David Maynier said in the National Assembly yesterday. Continuing to trade under such circumstances constituted reckless trading and the SAA was required by the Companies Act to file for business rescue or liquidation, he said. Maynier claimed during a debate on the Medium-Term Budget Policy Statement that Nene was ‘henpecked’ by SAA chairwoman Dudu Myeni. He seemed ‘powerless to act against this one-woman wrecking ball, who seems hell-bent on destroying SAA’. Myeni is understood to have a close relationship with the President and also heads the Jacob Zuma Foundation. The Treasury and SAA executives told Parliament’s Standing Committee on Finance recently that SAA required a further guarantee of between R4bn-R5bn. The airline has already received R14.5bn in state guarantees and now requires a further guarantee to obtain going concern status, which would allow the Auditor-General to pass its 2014-15 financial statements.