South Africa's government will cede control of the national airline to a restructuring specialist in a last-ditch attempt to save the cash-strapped business from collapse.
As part of a rescue plan started on Thursday, the government will hand the running of South African Airways (SAA) to business rescue practitioner Les Matuson to make the sort of painful cuts that would be difficult for politicians to push through.
SAA has been granted a 4 billion rand ($272 million) lifeline from the government and banks to launch the rescue plan, but that cash could only last for months, analysts say.