South African Airways Board responds to DA calls on Nico Bezuidenhout
Johannesburg, 24 November 2014. South African Airways today issued the following statement in response to DA calls on the Acting CEO, Nico Bezuidenhout.
The Board of South African Airways notes the statements attributed to the DA's Natasha Michael and states the following:
1. The Board of South African Airways (SAA) stands by its decision to appoint Mr. Nico Bezuidenhout as Acting Chief Executive Officer based on his proven experience, capability and track record. In the opinion of the Board, the tertiary studies that Mr. Bezuidenhout has completed, although incomplete, provides sufficient grounding whilst his performance track record certainly exceed that of a number of previous, and highly qualified, airline CEO's.
Whilst we are not proposing to compare Mr. Bezuidenhout with any of the notable individuals mentioned next, history is littered with examples of extremely successful individuals who did not complete their tertiary degrees, including Michael Dell (CEO Dell Computers), Richard Branson (Founder Virgin Atlantic), Henry Ford, Dustin Moskovitz (Facebook co-founder), Larry Ellison (founder of Oracle), Ray Kroc (founder of McDonalds) to name but a few.
2. Mr Bezuidenhout was head-hunted on behalf of SAA by Heidrick and Struggles to head-up E-Commerce operations at SAA in 2001. His CV on record at Heidrick and Struggles and at SAA HR at the time, from this first interaction, never claimed tertiary qualifications. His credentials were verified in accordance to standard SAA practices at the time, both by SAA as well as the Executive Search firm. Mr Bezuidenhout's CV, consistent in its contents over time, is further on record with the following Executive search firms or Companies that have approached him over time and may be independently verified:
Emirates, following an approach to join this Middle Eastern carrier in 2006;
Delloite recruitment, following an approach to head Business Development for a leading SA Charter operator in 2006;
Heidrick and Struggles, following an approach to head up the African operations (electronic) of a major Global media conglomerate in 2010;
Odgers Berndtson, following an approach to assume responsibility for a rapid rail operation in 2012;
Spencer Stuart, following an approach from an internationally listed travel distribution company in 2012;
Talent Africa, following the recruitment process for a SAA CEO in 2013. Credentials were again fully validated at this time and the status of his tertiary qualifications fully disclosed.
3. Over-and-above the mentioned independent repositories of Mr Bezuidenhout's CV over time, his CV is formally lodged with the Department of Transport and may also be validated from this source. Any claim that Mr Bezuidenhout misrepresented his qualifications is blatantly untrue.
4. The Board of SAA reconfirms that the incorrect information, printed in the 2011/12 Annual reports, was immediately corrected at the earliest opportunity - in the 2013 Annual Report.
5. This error was never published elsewhere with numerous public documents available clearly indicating that Mr. Bezuidenhout never claimed qualifications that he did not have nor attempted to mislead anyone, at any time. Mr. Bezuidenhout's CV is also a matter of public record.
6. The appointment of an Acting CEO during a time of business unusual is a Board decision based on the fiduciary duty to act in the best interests of the company. The Board of SAA furthermore confirms that Mr. Bezuidenhout's proven track record and subsequent appointment as Acting CEO is in the best interest of the business considering that:
7. During Mr Bezuidenhout's early times at SAA (between 2001 - 2006), he (1) drove e-ticket implementation within SAA (and, together with AFRAA, assisted other African carriers to do the same), (2) materially grew e-commerce and direct sales in SAA and (3) led the team that developed the business plan that culminated in the launch of Mango;
8. During Mr Bezuidenhout's time leading Mango, which he currently does:
Mango maintained profitability in all but one completed full fiscal - a profit history unmatched by any of the State's other carriers. Mango's external auditors independently attest to the Company's profit history;
Despite the challenges posed by the global financial crisis in 2008/9 and a number of new Market entries into SA aviation, Mango has gone from strength to strength and the Company is now within 20% of SAA's own domestic scale - a feat achieved in 8 years whereas SAA required 80 years to reach its current scale;
Mango is substantially cash positive, and achieved a cash balance in excess of R1bn as at 21 November 2014;
Under Mr Bezuidenhout's leadership, Mango has innovated in a number of respects (as also attested to by DA spokesperson on Public Enterprises Ms Natasha Michael in her release on 12/2/2013) and the Company represents the most affordable and most sustainable provisioning of airlift services by the South African Government;
Mango has been recognized, over the years, with several awards and accolades including this year's Skyrax World Airline Award as Best Low Cost Airline in Africa.
9. Mr Bezuidenhout's proven delivery has resulted in regular requests to address aviation professionals around the World on topics ranging across to Aviation value chain, where he has shared platforms with acknowledged leaders from the Global Aviation Industry. Mr Bezuidenhout was further commended for his successfully concluding duties as the first South African president of the International Air Transport Association Annual General Meeting in Cape Town in 2013.
Mr. Bezuidenhout's intellectual capital and depth and breadth of experience in aviation as well as his knowledge of the Group is invaluable; making him a natural and critical internal appointment in his current role as Acting CEO of SAA.
10. When called to assist SAA, Mr Bezuidenhout has shown strong delivery, including:
Development of the Company's LTTS in 84 days, during the time he acted as SAA's CEO in 2013;
During the period of his previous Acting role (11 February 2013 to 1 June 2014), SAA's financial performance showed marked improvement, including rapid cost reduction and stabilisation of the Business.
Unfortunately and following Mr Bezuidenhout's return to Mango last year, these early gains were reversed and SAA's financial performance has experienced a substantial deterioration;
In the short period since his second appointment within an acting capacity in November 2014, developed a 90-Day recovery Plan and presented the same for consideration by the Minister of Public Enterprises as well as the Minister of Finance.
11. During his tenure at Mango, as well as his role within the Group, Mr. Bezuidenhout has been exemplary in his integrity, business acumen and overall conduct.
12. The newly constituted Board is resolute in its intent to drive the implementation of the Long Term Turnaround Strategy and its support for and absolute confidence in Mr. Bezuidenhout.
The newly constituted Board makes this statement based on first-hand experience of the leadership and sound aviation expertise Mr. Bezuidenhout has already displayed, since re-appointed in the Acting CEO capacity, in aiming to arrest the negative performance SAA has shown since last year. The current distraction from the task at hand does not support the recovery SAA needs.
Statement issued by Tlali Tlali, Spokesperson (Manager: Media Relations), Office of the CEO, South African Airways, November 24 2014
Click here to sign up to receive our free daily headline email newsletter
