SAA stood up Parliament's public spending watchdog, the Standing Committee on Public Accounts, at the last minute on Wednesday. But as the national airline may well find out, hell hath no fury like MPs spurned.

SAA's letter requesting a postponement of the Wednesday evening meeting scheduled two weeks earlier only arrived on Wednesday morning, Daily Maverick has confirmed, while Parliament's Standing Committee on Public Accounts (Scopa) was busy with Correctional Services.

SAA executive board chairperson Thandeka Mgoduso, in the letter seen by Daily Maverick, "humbly" requested a postponement without a definite new date.

"A number of operational and commercial complexities have arising [sic] as a result of the industrial action and we are currently seized with assessing and evaluating its full impact globally. We are concurrently evaluating the financial position of SAA. This very involved analysis will yield clarity regarding the viability of the company," wrote Mgoduso in the letter dated 26 November 2019, signed still as acting board chairperson.

"We anticipate that we shall have cleared some of these material hurdles in the next 10 days. As soon as we have resolved these critical aspects, we shall indicate as such to the Chairman [of Scopa] and request a date...