Zuks will be taking over from Vuyani Jarana, who resigned in May, as acting CEO.
On Friday the South African Airways (SAA) board and its executive management announced the appointment of Zuks Ramasia as its new acting CEO.
Zuks is currently SAA’s general manager for operations and has been described as an official with an "extensive aviation background". She will be supported by a "strong team of executives" at the airline, including chief restructuring officer Peter Davies and interim chief financial officer Deon Fredericks.
The announcement came after the South African airline addressed the various issues SAA was facing, including the resignation of CEO Vuyani Jarana and the leak of Jarana’s resignation letter.
Jarana was meant to vacate office at the end of August, after serving his notice period, but the board announced that he will briefly hand over to Zuks on Monday and then depart.
“As a consequence of the change in leadership, Jarana will no longer serve as the CEO of SAA as from end of day on Monday, but will avail himself to provide transitional support and handover processes to the board, and management when so required for the duration of his notice period which goes on until the end of August,” said SAA board member Thandeka Mgoduso.
She said that the board has begun the search, domestically and globally, for a permanent CEO with appropriate experience and expertise to stabilise the airline and to oversee the implementation of the long-term turnaround strategy.
