ATM rejects the appointment of a UK expatriate as SAA interim CEO
15 July 2020
The appointment of an expatriate, Mr Phillip Saunders to act as an interim CEO of SAA is an insult to the talented men and women of South Africa in general and to South African senior managers at SAA in particular.
According to the sketchy profile of Mr Saunders gleaned from linkedin it's even questionable why in August 2019 he was appointed as Chief Commercial Officer in SAA when his experience was based only on the tiny operations in places like Malta (small island) and Kuwait.
Saunders has not finished even a year at SAA in his current Chief Commercial Officer role yet he is seen as the best candidate to be interim CEO. This can only be attributed to the privilege of being a white male and a citizen of our former coloniser. He will just be a tool that will never stand up to Gordhan.
How did Saunders even qualify to get a work permit to be in South Africa in the first place when being a commercial officer is not listed as a scarce and critical skill.
SAA has a lot more complexities than airlines with a fleet of less than a handful of airplanes. Why was internal talent over-looked?
The Saunders appointment represents the continued arrogance of Pravin Gordhan who seems hell-bent not to appoint Africans into any CEO role.
Even at the Mango Airline, Gordhan is reported to have interfered with the process so that he could appoint his pliable white matriculant CEO. SAA Technical is also headed by another white male.
Gordhan could not have done this without consulting President Ramaphosa. We therefore hold both of them accountable for their insolance to transformation and undermining the redress laws of our country.
ATM is calling on the Minister of Home Affairs to deport Saunders back to the UK as a matter of urgency to create space for a suitably qualified South African. The deportation of foreign nationals who are here on dodgy grounds cannot be reserved only for the Africans from the rest of the Continent.
South Africa is struggling with high unemployment of more than 30% and therefore cannot afford to be employing foreign nationals without first achieving full employment of suitably qualified South Africans.
Gordhan should not be allowed to appoint vulnerable puppets into key SOC roles to enable his shenanigans. Eskom is already paying the price for these pliable white males who overpay suppliers to the tune of billions of rands with no action taken against them.
It has become very clear to ATM that Gordhan and Ramaphosa are steadfast in persecuting Africans in SOC's to replace them with anyone that is not African.
These Gordhan appointments have not assisted in clamping down corruption and bringing in efficiencies, instead the opposite is true.
ATM rejects the appointment of under qualified Saunders and calls on the Cabinet to intervene by reversing this appointment to restore confidence and integrity in the choice of the interim CEO.
Issued by African Transformation Movement, 15 July 2020
