Many people have claimed this without any evidence to support it. The SAA drawdown at Cape Town began long ago, well before the DA took control of Cape Town. The DA took control of Cape Town in March 2006 and the Western Cape Province in May 2009.

In 1999 SAA flew to Miami (later switched to Atlanta), London, Frankfurt (via Johannesburg, later non-stop), Paris (via Johannesburg) and Zurich (via Johannesburg).

Atlanta was dropped around 2002 (roughly when the A340-600 took over the route from the B747-400) and Paris and Zurich around the same time. Frankfurt ended around 2005 after a last effort to save the route by switching it to a daytime northbound service. London lasted until 2012.