How to fix SA: Easier to pull the plug on SAA than chop Eskom jobs, costs – FT

International investors are closely watching how the South African government deals with state entities. Until President Cyril Ramaphosa and his team fix beasts that have been eating away at the economy, including SAA and Eskom, these investors will sit on the sidelines or place their funds elsewhere. The Financial Times underscores the scale of the challenges for Ramaphosa and his team. Pulling the plug on SAA, which flies the national flag and hires several thousand people, will be much easier than cleaning up Eskom, predicts the FT's South Africa correspondent, David Pilling. He has itemised the big problems shackling Eskom, not least of all its debt and its overloaded payroll. – Jackie Cameron

By Thulasizwe Sithole

Vested interests are dragging South Africa down, writes the Financial Times, which also comments that Cyril Ramaphosa will be loath to take on the people who helped him to the ANC presidency.

FT correspondent David Pilling tells the newspaper's global audience that this month South African Airways will pay its nearly 6,000 staff only half of their November salary.

"Next month, without a substantial bailout it won't be able to pay them anything at all. The partial payment follows a bruising week-long strike that grounded all of the airline's flights. In the end, workers got a 5.9% pay increase that management said had been on offer anyway."

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