I have been following this issue with interest as it seems like there may be more sinister forces at work behind this story. The DFO of Velvet Sky was quoted on e-News two days ago as saying that the "grounding" of the airline by SAA Technical was a political move from SAA and Mango to force Velvet Sky out of the local market. Before one dismisses this as rubish, it would be wise to remember what happened to the likes of Sun Air, FliteStar and others at the hands of SAA. It was also strange that the press release came from SAA, and the directive to withdraw services was from the CEO of SAA who then flatly refused to meet with any of the Velvet management thereafter to try and mediate.
Looking deeper into the situation, there is no doubt that Velvet has had an impact on the local market. They flew 65000 passengers during the month of December and have held prices lower than the other operators. This in itself has been of huge benifit to the travelling public, even if one doesn't support Velvet, you will still be reaping the benifits of lower prices with other airlines. So this was surely hurting Mango.
Personally, I hope that Velvet can come out of this and continue to be a thorn in the side of the likes of SAA/Mango, who are using the taxes that the private airlines pay (1 Time, Comair and Velvet) to fund their own operation. Don't know of any other bussiness where private companies are in competition with a state run company and also indirectly fund them!!!