Former SAA board member Yakhe Kwinana appears in court after arrest

Former South African Airways (SAA) board member Yakhe Kwinana appeared briefly in the Randburg Magistrate’s Court on Tuesday.

This follows her arrest on charges relating to extortion, malicious damage to property, and pointing a firearm.

East London

The case has been transferred to East London, where she will make her next appearance on Monday, 24 March 2024.

Kwinana addressed the court, saying that she had been informed that she could file an application for bail at her next court appearance.  

Police say they conducted an inter-provincial operation in Midrand on Monday, leading to the arrest of a 60-year-old woman, Kwinana, “ending her alleged reign of terror”.

Police spokesperson Major General Nonkululeko Phokane said Kwinana is facing multiple charges of extortion, malicious property damage, and pointing of a firearm.

ALSO READ: Former SAA board member Yakhe Kwinana granted R20k bail after appearing on fraud charges

Taxi violence and extortion

Phokane said a multidisciplinary team comprising members from the National Intervention Unit (NIU), Gauteng Serious and Violent Crime Investigations (SVCI), Tactical Response Team (TRT), and the National Traffic Anti-Corruption Unit acted on intelligence leading to the arrest of the suspect in Midrand.

“The suspect, who is linked to a series of taxi violence and extortion cases in East London, was allegedly always accompanied by armed men when she threatened her victims and extorted money from them. The victims’ properties were also allegedly demolished [at] the instruction of the suspect.

“A multidisciplinary team comprising members from National Intervention Unit (NIU), Gauteng Serious and Violent Crime Investigations (SVCI), Tactical Response Team (TRT), and the National Traffic Anti-Corruption Unit acted on intelligence leading to the arrest of the suspect Midrand,” Phokane said.

Task team

In 2024, Minister of Police Senzo Mchunu established a national task team to deal decisively with extortion-related crimes. Multidisciplinary teams have been deployed to prevent, combat, investigate, and arrest those behind incidents of gang violence and extortion in the country.

Previous fraud charges

In November 2024, Kwinana appeared in the Palm Ridge Specialised Commercial Crime Court on fraud charges. She was granted R20 000 bail.

It is alleged that Kwinana failed to disclose a conflict of interest between her own firm and the companies involved in the auditing contract in question.

Kwinana was fined R6.1 million in April 2023 after being found guilty of 13 out of the 14 charges brought against her by the South African Institute of Chartered Accountants (Saica).

Kwinana served as an SAA board member from 2009 until 2016 and is most memorable for her vetkoek analogy made during the State Capture Inquiry.

ALSO READ: Ex-SAA board member Yakhe ‘Fat Cakes’ Kwinana fined R6.1m, booted as chartered accountant member