South African Airways can't be immediately shut, Ramaphosa says

South African Airways can’t be shut down or sold now, because the govt would get nothing for the loss-making carrier and all its state-guaranteed debt would have to be settled immediately, president Cyril Ramaphosa said. “You would possibly have to pay somebody to take it out of your hands,” Ramaphosa said in response to a lawmaker’s question in parliament in Tuesday. “In the end we have got to stabilise SAA.” Options under consideration include attracting a strategic equity partner for SAA, according to the president. Finance minister Tito Mboweni last week said he favours shutting SAA down and establishing a new airline to take its place. <br/>