Dudu Myeni says she was a ‘black scapegoat’ as chair of SAA board

Dudu Myeni says she was targeted during her time as the chair of South African Airways (SAA) board of directors because those she worked with did not want to be led by a black woman.

“From the outset, I knew that it would be difficult for people to accept being led by a black African woman,” Myeni said yesterday.

“In general, I was among people for whom, in their hearts, it was difficult to accept being led by a woman … There are difficulties in being a leader, in the aviation industry in general but especially when men are dominating, to be more precise white males”.

Myeni was speaking from the witness stand of the High Court in Pretoria, where she was testifying in her own defence in her long-anticipated delinquent director trial.

The Organisation Undoing Tax Abuse (Outa) and the SAA Pilots Association (Saapa) approached the court in early 2017 with an application to have Myeni declared a delinquent director.

After a series of delays – in part through a number of applications launched by Myeni’s legal team – the trial got under way last month.

Myeni’s five-year term at the helm of SAA’s board was ridden with scandal and Judge Ronel Tolmay has, in recent weeks, been hearing arguments to have Myeni barred from sitting on any boards for at least seven years.

Several witnesses for Outa and Saapa – including former high-ranking officials at SAA – have testified to apparent maladministration and irregular dealings that took place through Myeni, but she only this week confirmed she would be giving evidence in court.

Myeni yesterday kicked off her evidence-in-chief by responding to allegations that she was “specifically seconded” to SAA by former president Jacob Zuma.

“It is not true. It is an allegation and something which was spoken about in the media,” she said.

She was adamant Zuma had never influenced her appointment and, in support of this, recounted a conversation she had had with Zuma in her capacity as chair of the Jacob Zuma Foundation, in which he commented on having learnt about her middle name, Cynthia, when Cabinet selected her for the position.

Myeni yesterday denied having blocked the multibillion-rand “Emirates deal” – a lucrative code-sharing deal which she stands accused of having scuppered at the 11th hour by instructing then chief executive Nico Bezuidenhout not to sign a memorandum of understanding.

Myeni said yesterday she had been made the “scapegoat”.

“It is not true that this deal was blocked because of Dudu. What I can say that maybe Bezuidenhout didn’t get a chance to shine by signing this MOU in France, on a global platform, and now he is turning around and using me as a scapegoat.”

She also denied any wrongdoing in the “swap transaction”, in which she stands accused of trying to change a leasing agreement between SAA and Airbus, to include a middleman, without board approval.

Asked by her counsel how she would characterise her relationships with her former colleagues, Myeni said there was a “gender row atmosphere” at SAA.

Asked why she had not attended court up until now, she said her SAA board insurance had been pulled after she made changes to her legal representation, “I thought it was going to be unfair to my husband … my children and to any money I had to take a plane and come to court and attend to matters of SAA,” she said.

The case continues today, with Myeni set for cross-examination.

– bernadettew@citizen.co.za

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