SAA R72m bonuses for top-brass outrageous when workers must take a pay-freeze
The Eskom-esque revelation that South African Airways (SAA) top brass have been awarded R72 million in bonuses - while workers took a pay-freeze and contended with the threat of mass retrenchments - are outrageous. In light of these allegations, and amid SAA's dismal performance in recent years, the DA will be submitting questions to the Minister in a bid to determine who received bonuses and why.
The rising occurrence of damaged, lost and pilfered luggage further illustrates the absurdity of these bonuses. Recent headlines indicating that around 10 000 passengers lodge claims for damaged luggage annually come in the wake of DA revelations about luggage pilferage. The DA highlighted in November 2007 that baggage pilferage has escalated - particularly over the last two years - with year-on-year increases rocketing from 17.7 percent (between 2004/05 and 2005/06) to 39.5 percent (between 2005/06 and 2006/07).
SAA Chief Executive Officer Khaya Ngqula sugar-coated SAA's 2006/07 operating loss of 883 million by predicting that the airline would register a R47 million operating profit by the end of 2007/08. This was to be achieved through a targeted R638 million savings on personnel costs through retrenchments and renegotiating the conditions of employment of its 10 000 employees.
The South African Transport and Allied Workers Union (Satawu) recently confirmed that while senior management was paid R72 million in "retention payments", workers took a pay-freeze to boost the national carrier's productivity.
The DA will be submitting questions to Public Enterprises Minister Alec Erwin to determine whether "retention payments" are in fact a misnomer for bonuses, and on what basis Eskom's top brass received these payouts just less than one year after 600 workers have been retrenched(3). Furtherm
ore, the DA will seek clarity on when the decision on bonuses was taken, and furthermore, in what financial year the 6.6 million was paid out.
Statement issued by Manie van Dyk MP, Democratic Alliance spokesperson on public enterprises, April 23 2008
