The whole point of privatisation is to get rid of the politicians and their expensive unproductive dead wood.
Run as a proper fully independant business with good professional management it could be a good profitatable airline.
That doesn't work in Africa! You would still have to grease the palms of the buffoons in positions of power in the regulatory bodies e.g. to obtain operating licences, permissions etc. Those idiots are incapable of keeping their hands out of the cookie jar.
When they see
any enterprise making money, they come along and insist on under-the-table payments just to let you continue largely 'unmolested'. If you don't agree to that they undermine your business by foul means, until you give up in disgust. Then they take over said business, appoint their family and friends to run it and screw it up anyway ..... because they can't keep their hands out of the cookie jar. A never-ending cycle of nepotism, corruption and incompetence. No private individual or enterprise in their right mind would touch SAA. Ever! TIA!