The Democratic Alliance (DA) notes reports indicating that the entire fleet of SA Express has been grounded, allegedly due to operational challenges. No information has been made available about when flights will resume. The DA maintains that the airline needs to be either partly or fully privatised, as it is incapable of efficient standard operation under government ownership.
The part or full privatisation of SA Express, as with other state-owned entities, comes with a myriad of advantages. Particularly job and revenue security. Privatisation for SA Express brings with it the introduction of much-needed capital, promotion of competition, and efficiency.
The main objectives of privatisation in the context SOEs are to reduce the impact of government guarantees on the fiscus, and assist in the development of an economic context that promotes industrial competitiveness and stimulates job creation.
Given the incredulous amount of people’s money spent on keeping SA Express in the air, Government could have undoubtedly created hundreds of thousands of new job opportunities across other sectors.
The fact of the matter is that SOEs are costing South Africans a great deal more than what they are getting in return and the rationale for Government retaining full ownership of SA Express and SAA, as well as a number of other defunct SOEs such as Eskom, has lost all credibility.