Myeni reveals Mr X’s identity, says he is a ‘family member’

Dudu Myeni has revealed the identity of Mr X, the witness who alleged before the Commission of Inquiry into State Capture that she had instructed him to transfer R1 million into the account of the Jacob G Zuma Foundation.

Mr X testified at the commission earlier this year about various payments that were made into his business account, including three payments from Premier Attraction 1016 CC – a company Myeni’s son, Thalente, was a partner in.

Premier Attraction had made three payments into Mr X’s business account, including one that was done on 11 December 2015 and amounted to R1,150,000, the commission heard.

Mr X said this was followed by an instruction from the former South African Airways (SAA) chairperson to transfer R1 million into the account of the Jacob Zuma Foundation.

Testifying at the commission on Thursday, Myeni asked: “Who is Mr X?” and whether the proceedings would continue with Mr X’s identity being kept anonymous.

Read more: If I was white, I would not be presumed guilty, Myeni tells Zondo

The chairperson of the commission, Deputy Chief Justice Raymond Zondo, told Myeni that he had ruled that Mr X’s identity be withheld “for reasons that were dealt with at the time”.

Myeni asked to be told those reasons “so I can comfortably answer”.

Zondo explained that an application had been made for him to rule on the withholding of Mr X’s identity and that he was satisfied that there were proper grounds to grant the measure.

He further told Myeni that the ruling was on record for her perusal and that the transcript of the day he made the ruling can be made available to her.

Myeni said out of a great deal of interest, she had read the transcript and Mr X’s “full file, full document”, adding that the commission was in possession of an “[Special Investigation Unit] investigation against Mr X”.

Myeni then claimed that Mr X was “a family member” before blurting our his surname.

“[He] is my family, his children are my children, [he] is my family, he is my brother, there is no truth in hiding his identity, [he] is family to me, he is my brother,” Myeni said, adding that she did not want to deal with issues raised in Mr X’s testimony, a person she said she has known for over 25 years.

Zondo interjected, telling Myeni that once he has issued an order “it needs to be respected”.

The commission’s chair adjourned the proceedings to consider “what should be done about what you have just done”.

Myeni said she did not intend to break the order or disrespect Zondo and apologised to him.

“I’ve got to reflect on what you have just done,” Zondo said.

Mr X had also testified that ahead of his testimony, Myeni allegedly called his daughter to ask: “why is your father selling us out?”

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