Employees of Mango Airlines, who have not been paid for two months, have been kicked out of their rented apartments, forced to default on vehicle instalment repayments and many now say they rely on relatives for survival.
The low-cost domestic airline, a subsidiary of SAA, which employs about 750 people, is facing financial difficulties due to the effects of the Covid-19 pandemic and has been unable to pay salaries for two months.
On Tuesday, the airline temporarily suspended flights, leading to hundreds of passengers booked on cancelled flights finding themselves stranded at Johannesburg’s OR Tambo and Cape Town international airports.
The Halabi family of five from Durban were among the scores who left their Cape Town accommodation early on Tuesday morning ahead of their 10.15am Mango flight back home, only to find the airline’s check-in counters at the Cape Town airport deserted.
“Only at 8.53am did we receive an SMS from Mango saying all flights are temporarily suspended,” Michelle Halabi told Sowetan's sister newspaper TimesLIVE.
Two crew members told Sowetan they are now back home with their families as they're forced to rely on relatives for survival as most of the airline's fleet is not flying due to slow business.
A 29-year-old junior crew member, who has worked for the airline for about four years, said it was an embarrassment having to rely on her mother for even toiletries as the airline's future remains uncertain.
“I received my last salary at the end of May and this has affected my life very badly as I can no longer pay for my car and had to move out of my apartment to go back home,” she said.
She said she had now applied for a payment relief plan, for a second time in two years, from the bank which push her car repayments up to eight years, including additional interest.
“We just don't know what the future holds, I now even rely on my mother for cosmetics and I went back home after not having lived at home for nine years,” she said.
Another crew member, who was also forced to return home, said she's been relying on family and relatives financially for two months now. She said she's now forced to apply for debt review to be able to hold on to what she has bought on credit.
“I'm grateful to have people in my life to assist me but I'm squatting here at home; there's just no space for me and I am hanging by my last thread,” she said.
Mango was expected to get R819m from the government, which was announced in May, which would have helped with its restructuring, debt repayments and fund its working capital.
The South African Cabin Crew Association (Sacca), Mango Pilots Association (MPA) and the National Union of Metalworkers SA (Numsa) have now filed an urgent application in the Johannesburg high court this week to place the airline in business rescue.
This coincides with SAA interim CEO Thomas Kgokolo telling news channel eNCA that the airlines will be placed in business rescue.
Sacca president Zazi Nsibanyoni-Mugambi, who deposed a founding affidavit in the application, said they were in the dark in terms of how Mango would fit into the strategic equity partnership involving SAA and its new owners, Takatso Consortium.
Nsibanyoni-Mugambi said inasmuch as both the Mango and SAA boards have already resolved to place the low-cost airline in business rescue, there appeared to be a “bottleneck”.
She said they were launching the court application to ensure that the airline is put in business rescue with a R2.5bn debt incurred during the Covid-19 lockdown travel restrictions.
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