SAA has appointed Thomas Kgokolo as interim CEO, the interim board chair Geoff Qhena announced to staff on Wednesday.
SAA, which has been in business rescue since December 2019, has been without a CEO since Zuks Ramasia retired as acting CEO a year ago. The last permanent CEO was Vuyani Jarana who resigned in June 2019.
Kgokolo is a non-executive director of Air Traffic Navigation Services (ATNS) where he also served as interim CEO from 2018 to 2020. In his letter to staff, Qhena said that Kgokolo had 15 years of public sector experience and more than 10 years’ experience at a non-executive director level.
He is a qualified chartered accountant and holds an MBA from the Gordons Institute of Business Science (Gibs), where he is also a lecturer in corporate finance.
The appointment of Kgokolo takes the business rescue process of SAA one step closer to completion. The business rescue practitioners had hoped to hand SAA back to its board and management and exit by the end of March.
The department of public enterprises is aiming to attract a partner to invest in SAA, which is an essential step for it to begin flying again.
Meanwhile, striking SAA pilots will be in court on Thursday to request an interdict to prevent the company from employing scab labour.
Would you like to comment on this article?
Sign up (it's quick and free) or sign in now.
Please read our Comment Policy before commenting.