Comair’s non-executive director Rodney Sacks resigns

January 03, 2020: Comair has announced that Rodney Sacks, a long-standing non-executive director, has resigned with immediate effect. The company operates scheduled services on domestic routes as a British Airways franchisee and kulula.com, a low-cost carrier in South Africa.

The Johannesburg Stock Exchange-listed (JSE) carrier even confirmed that Derek Borer, the group's company secretary and an alternate non-executive director to Sacks, also resigned from the board with immediate effect.

Recently, Comair appointed a new group CEO Wrenelle Stander.

In November, concerns were raised at Comair's annual general meeting (AGM) about the long tenure of board members. A resolution was approved at the AGM that directors who served for a period of nine years or longer have to retire on an annual basis and if eligible, could stand for re-election. 

Lindsay Ralphs, who is also the CEO of Bidvest, replaced Pieter van Hoven as Comair chair at the AGM. Van der Hoven, however, remains on the board as a non-executive director.

Metaco, which was acquired by Comair in July 2018, is involved in litigation against Comair. Metaco accuses Comair of reneging on the agreement and "grinding it into the ground in the process". Since the matter is sub judice, Comair preferred not to comment on it at the time.

Comair has so far maintained an unbroken 72 years of profitability. In its results announcement for the year to the end of June 2019, it announced that its headline earnings per share were 184 percent higher than in the previous year. 

Comair's management is planning to meet South African Airways' (SAA) business rescue practitioners to discuss the more than ZAR1 billion rand ($69 million) settlement won against SAA in February 2019. SAA filed for bankruptcy protection proceedings on December 5.