South African Airways (SAA) on Tuesday appointed Advocate Vusi Pikoli to its leadership team as chief risk and compliance officer, reporting to group chief executive Vuyani Jarana, starting February 1.

Pikoli is currently an advisor to the minister of State security and was previously the national director of public prosecutions at the National Prosecuting Authority from 2005 until 2007.

SAA spokesperson, Tlali Tlali, said the troubled State-owned airline has made it one of its priorities to cleanse the organisation of corruption.

"The appointment of Advocate Pikoli is as important as it is significant in demonstrating our resolve to bringing capacity to strengthen the executive team to execute on our turnaround strategy with much urgency. He brings a wealth of experience and is known to be a disciplined and strong administrator," Tlali said.

As the chief risk and compliance officer, Pikoli will be responsible for risk management and compliance functions in SAA, comprising of aviation and general legislation compliance. He will also be responsible for the overall strategic and operational responsibility for the integrated risk management strategy for SAA.

"We are resolute about our commitment to restore and maintain good governance at required levels at SAA as this is one of the important enablers for the effective implementation of our turnaround plan," Tlali said.

Pikoli holds a BA (Law) degree, LLB, LLM, Business Leadership Programme and is an admitted advocate of the High Court in South Africa. He has aviation industry exposure through his involvement in the reinsurance of aircraft fleets while working for an insurance company.