Minister of Public Enterprises Pravin Gordhan announced on Thursday that South African Airways board chair JB Magwaza had resigned from the embattled national carrier for personal reasons.

He was delivering his budget vote in Parliament. In a budget vote sitting that saw early disruptions from the Economic Freedom Fighters, Gordhan took a moment to thank Magwaza for his contributions to leading SAA.

"We would like to thank, the outgoing Chairperson of the SAA Board, Mr JB Magwaza. Your contribution is appreciated," said Gordhan during his budget vote.

Gordhan said the department hoped the Government Shareholder Bill would be adopted into law by 2021/22 and would work to have the green Paper for the SOE Bill will be developed this financial year.

"This will amongst other things address governance, SOE mandates, funding models as well as guidelines for private sector participation. SOE Reform is an ongoing process to review the SOE landscape emanating from the report of the Presidential Review commission," said Gordhan.

Gordhan said the department was been allocated a budget of R293m in 2019/20, R312.8m in 2020/21 and R332m in 2021/22 representing an average growth rate of 6.5%.

"The department's focus over the medium term will be largely on enhancing the capabilities of the department in performing its oversight role on the various SOEs by ensuring that the pool of highly skilled professionals is augmented," said Gordhan.

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Gordhan said the SOE reforms the department was pushing for aimed to guide the appointment of boards and prescribed officers including remuneration and their incentives.

"The main principles have already been approved by Cabinet. These seek to assess the SOE landscape and ensure that the economic impact of the SOE is enhanced by eliminating duplications and reviewing the current SOE to ensure continued relevance," he said.