The Africa programme — which would also be served by SA Express — would be underpinned by an Africa Airlift Strategy, which was being prepared for the Cabinet by the Departments of Public Enterprises and Tourism.

"SAA’s primary focus on the African continent is to establish itself as a leading network carrier from OR Tambo International Airport to other primary airports across the continent," Mr Gigaba said.

"SAA plans to introduce additional routes and frequencies to broaden operations and improve its African footprint." He said SAA’s challenge was to find the money for the acquisition from its own balance sheet as it could not rely on government funding.

The airline would have to capitalise itself through the accumulation of strong, retained earnings and ensure that it had sufficient cash available to fund the Airbus transaction.

SA Express had also embarked on a fleet renewal plan this year, which would result in average capacity growth of 8,6% a year over the next four years.

Mr Gigaba emphasised that state- owned entities would be expected to play a greater developmental role in the economy. This would include more training and investment and fostering suppliers and localisation.

Growth of state-owned entities would see at least 13000 new direct jobs created and an additional 40414 jobs in their associated supply chains, but Mr Gigaba wanted them to dramatically increase their training output and would seek to use resources from the National Skills Fund for this.

He said the new multiproduct pipeline between Durban and Johannesburg would be commissioned in the third quarter of this financial year and should be fully operational by the end of December 2013.