SOUTH African Airways needs short-term funding from the government by the end of next week for the state carrier’s business rescue process to continue, its administrators said on Thursday. “It is prudent to advise affected persons of the company’s dire financial position,” they said in a statement. “The existing funds which are available for operational expenditure …are near depletion.” The administrators took control of SAA in December after almost a decade of financial losses and published their restructuring plan for the airline in June following repeated delays and wrangling over its future. They plan to scale back the fleet and…