Two things spring to mind:
1. I have mainly experienced great service etc with carriers that are part of Star Alliance (Singapore - you guys are the best). With SAA, with whom I have had mainly poor and bad experiences, I fear that Star has made a blunder (Sure, they are the biggest in Africa, but is that the only real factor?). SAA's service, their choice in cabin seating etc, is way way way below what can reasonably be expected. Ever fancy having a grey egg for breakfast, go fly SAA. Their cabin crew are so full of themselves, and think that they own the PAX and can subject us to their arrogance and poor levels of service.....enough said, I think everybody knows what I am on about. Good luck Star Alliance with SAA joining you.
2. Yes, being a "public company" SAA gets bailed out at the end of each year for their poor performance. Ever wondered about this huge "hedging loss"????? There is no incentive for them to improve, because the SA taxpayer will make sure that next year the same sorry service is still around. Give the private guys (Comair, Nationwide OneTime etc) just a bit of the money that SAA is getting, and let the playing fields be leveled that way.