The Inkatha Freedom Party (IFP) on Friday urged all South African Airways (SAA) employees to return to work, saying South Africa and its economy can ill-afford another blow to the public purse. 

IFP spokesperson on Public Enterprises Inkosi Mzamo Buthelezi said while the party fully supports the right of workers to strike, in this case, it urged workers to “do what is right for the country”, and to “act patriotically”.

The South African Cabin Crew Association and the National Union of Metalworkers of South Africa (Numsa) have stated that they will initiate a strike from Friday morning following SAA’s revelation that it may have to retrench workers as part of its turnaround strategy.

SAA announced earlier this week it planned to cut 944 jobs, which translated to almost a fifth of its workforce, to bring its runaway costs under control.

Owing to threats of a strike SAA scrapped domestic, regional, and international flights on Friday and Saturday, with the exception of a few international flights.

Buthelezi explained that halting all operations at the airline appears to be yet another case of a State-owned entity (SOE) trying to squeeze out more money from National Treasury. 

The IFP called on all stakeholders, in particular the leadership of Numsa, to find an amicable solution as swiftly as possible. 

“This matter can only be settled around the boardroom table, not on the streets and certainly not through the grounding of flights. There is no avoiding the inevitable; and that is the restructuring of SAA,” he said. 

Buthelezi said the situation does not instil any confidence that the country’s leadership is serious in its attempts to reform its ailing SOEs and improve its economic standing.

The IFP further calls on Public Enterprises Minister Pravin Gordhan to intervene by playing an intermediary role to reach a settlement agreement and to negotiate a deal that would accommodate workers’ demands sufficiently, with SAA’s budgetary constraints in mind. 

“The IFP have long held that SAA’s reliance on State resources should be limited and phased out into a more sustainable cost model through a public-private partnership agreement for it to become globally competitive, drive down costs and to restore service excellence,” stated Buthelezi.