Transport Minister Barbara Creecy announced on Thursday that Professor John Lamola had been appointed the new Group CEO (GCEO) of State-owned airline South African Airways (SAA). Lamola’s appointment had been approved by Cabinet on Wednesday. He was previously acting GCEO.

“As a member of the Cabinet I deeply support the objective of building a strong, capable and ethical public service,” affirmed Creecy. “In all the portfolios where I have served, I have endeavoured to appoint qualified, capable South Africans with integrity, and believe that my track record in this regard speaks for itself.”

She explained that she had been the shareholder-Minister for SAA since the end of August 2024. In September last year she was briefed by the SAA board chairperson (Derek Hanekom) that a recruitment process for a permanent SAA GCEO had been launched. Subsequently, she was informed that a shortlist of three suitable candidates had been drawn up; their names were submitted to her, with the request that she select one; Lamola was one of those three.

The SAA board had ranked the three candidates in terms of scores that the selection panel had awarded them. The number one, the CEO of another African airline, was, however, not a South African citizen. That caused Creecy concern – she had had a previous experience when the appointed CEO of an agency had been denied maximum security clearance because he was not a South African citizen.

“At that time, [Hanekom] advised me that all candidates were appointable and the shareholder should approve the most appropriate candidate for appointment having taken all factors into consideration,” she reported. “Following careful consideration and taking all relevant factors into account the process was narrowed down to two candidates both of whom had the experience and qualities needed for this position.”

She then consulted President Cyril Ramaphosa, who advised that Creecy and Deputy President Paul Mashatile meet with the two candidates, both strong, to finally decide who to appoint. She assured that this did not amount to any kind of interference but was intended to support the board and bring the process to a conclusion.

The outcome was the decision to appoint Lamola. Creecy highlighted that, under Lamola as acting GCEO, SAA had had three years of “outstanding” audits, and had made a profit during the 2023 financial year, its first profit in many years. Under him the carrier had also expanded from flying just domestic routes to again flying regional and international ones.