READER LETTER | Probe termination of sale of equity in SAA

The infamous termination of the sale of equity in  SA Airways (SAA) should be thoroughly investigated. It can be inferred from the fiasco that the department of public enterprises (DPE) fiddled with the search for a strategic equity partner to handpick an unqualified bidder without a real sense of logic.

It's a typical aberration from within the DPE walls. Methinks this oft-recurring interference in the corporate governance affairs contributed to the sudden departure of former SAA CEO Vuyani Jarana. More specifically, Jarana was cut short of achieving the objectives of the short-term survival plan with considerations for growth in the long term.

Yet stakeholders were sold of his turnaround strategy which undertook a fundamental re-appraisal of the organisation. Following Jarana's exit, SAA was reduced to a shadow of its former self. Then came the business rescue proceedings which yielded no real benefits. Despite SAA receiving a bailout as the pre-commencement finance to restructure its affairs, the return was nought.

And the diluted share value prompted the DPE, without any expert knowledge of the business, to guesstimate the 51% acquisition of the airline. All this was the result of a wrongful exercise of public power by the executive authority.

The seventh administration should ensure accounting officers have a great deal of freedom to do what ought to be done without interference to realise objectives articulated in the strategy. Likewise, the Public Service Commission (PSC) needs to be vested with powers to name and shame incorrigible obstructionists.

And the parliamentary committee on public enterprises should exercise its oversight responsibility to hold the executive accountable. That would future-proof ethics and curb the unbridled corruption which has hitherto relegated the public entities into a state of paralysis.

Morgan Phaahla, Ekurhuleni