Chairperson of Parliament’s Portfolio Committee on Public Enterprises Khaya Magaxa has slammed the National Union of Metal Workers of South Africa (NUMSA) for saying flying with South African Airways (SAA) would be a safety risk because the national carrier was using short-term contracted staff who didn’t have ‘the requisite experience’.
The comments were ‘reckless, and sabotage the national carrier’, Magaxa said.
‘Whilst the committee supports the rights of employees to strike within the confines of labour laws, it is irresponsible for the unions to make comments that the flights will be operated by short-term contracted personnel without the requisite experience.’
Magaxa is cited in a parliamentary statement as saying that the committee ‘acknowledges the challenges facing SAA … are a direct result of malfeasance and corruption caused by state capture’.
The workers were not to blame, but the committee ‘would like to appeal to workers not to damage and destroy SAA’s credibility. If the employees continue down the path of destruction, this will lead to the destruction of jobs that we seek to protect and increase. The SAA brand is important in ensuring improvement and profitability.’