SAA accused of AGM delay tactics to delay Myeni’s exit

Finance Minister Malusi Gigaba’s decision that SAA chairperson Dudu Myeni will not serve another term on the board of the national carrier is being welcomed, although she may yet find a way to stall the airline’s annual general meeting (AGM) next month in an attempt to cling to power a little longer.

SAA’s application to the Companies Tribunal to hold its AGM in September was turned down by the tribunal this month, despite SAA saying “holding the AGM before the deadline afforded to in the previous application is highly unlikely”.

Gigaba said this week he would appoint a new chairperson at the AGM. This was welcomed by the Organisation Undoing Tax Abuse (Outa).

“SAA has stumbled from crisis to crisis under the leadership (or lack thereof) of the ill-equipped Dudu Myeni, forcing Treasury to bail out the embattled airline with direct investments or guarantees,” said Ben Theron, Outa chief operating officer.

“She is not fit to hold any public office whatsoever. The sooner she leaves the better.”

The one-year extension of Myeni’s term expires on August 31. But with her strong connections to President Jacob Zuma, who defended her in September last year, whether Myeni goes at the end of August remains to be seen.

Outa’s Dominique Msibi said: “Nowadays, in a lot of state-owned entities, you toss a coin and hope. We are hoping, because it came from the office of the minister himself, it will hold some water. I can’t say whether or not it is going to happen.”

Numerous allegations of corruption have been levelled against Myeni. But Msibi was unaware if any criminal charges had actually been laid.

“Hopefully at the end of her tenure, charges will be laid,” he said.

In June, the Forensics for Justice website released documents implicating Myeni in procurement and other operational issues.

The NGO released e-mails that Myeni apparently wrote in 2015 to airline executives, board members, the chief procurement officer, prospective services providers and regulatory authorities, in which she allegedly sought to circumvent supply chain policies.

Myeni was appointed to the SAA board in 2009 and it has subsequently gone from one begging bowl to another.

If Myeni fails to call the AGM, her one-year extended appointment runs out anyway, said DA shadow minister of finance, Alf Lees, and she could face being declared a delinquent director.

Myeni is already facing action from Outa and the SAA Pilots’ Association, who have asked the High Court in Pretoria to declare her a delinquent director, which would bar her from serving as a director, a senior executive or on any boards for at least seven years.

When the extension was granted in November, SAA said its annual financial statements were “delayed due to the implementation of accounting policy changes that related to the maintenance reserves and possible impairment thereof and clarity relating to the perpetual portion (R121 million) of the guarantee granted” to SAA by government.

It said further feedback on the guarantee would only be provided after March this year, which Gigaba delivered by throwing another R2.3 billion into SAA’s now R19 billion black hole on July 1. – amandaw@citizen.co.za