The National Union of Metalworkers of South Africa (Numsa) and the South African Cabin Crew Association (SACCA) have released a joint statement accusing South African Airways (SAA) board members of having ties to the Rothschild family.

According to the statement, the Rothschilds are “interfering” in South Africa’s state-owned enterprises for “selfish and greedy purposes”, with the intention of collapsing SAA so it can be privatised.

The statement alleges the Rothschilds are trying to capture SAA and other SOEs like the Guptas did, due to their privatisation “agenda”.

Finance Minister Tito Mboweni is also a target of the statement’s wrath, with accusations that he doesn’t care about either SAA or SA levelled against him.

Statements in which Mboweni has expressed doubts over the future of the struggling airline are evidence that he shows a “reckless” disregard for the future of the company, the statement says.

On Tuesday, the unions held a lunchtime protest calling for the reinstatement of former CEO Vuyani Jarana, whose turnaround strategy they want implemented. They also want the removal of various SAA board members, including Kingston, who they accuse of ties to the Rothschild family, as well as another board member who actually carries the Rothschild name – former JSE chairperson Geoff Rothschild.

They have also requested the removal of Thandeka Mgoduso and Peter Tshisevhe.

The protest led to a meeting between the two unions and the SAA board on Thursday which the unions did not find satisfactory, leading to the statement, which was released on Friday.

They statement calls for President Cyril Ramaphosa to intervene to save the national carrier, something unions have called for previously.

SAA has declined to comment at this point.

(Compiled by Daniel Friedman)

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