I think I would suggest that SAA is a piece of critical infrastructure for South Africa - and possibly even Southern Africa. It's easy to talk about letting Alitalia go bust because there is no shortage of competition able to provide air transport at short notice - that doesn't apply so much in SAA's case. Perhaps SAA might be allowed to go bust in 5 years time but right now I think the Govt has little choice but to pump in extra cash for now