OUTA to take action against Dudu Myeni

OUTA says the state-owned airline lost an estimated R10.5 billion over a period of five years during Myeni's tenure.

OUTA's Portfolio Director of Transport, Ben Theron, says charges against Myeni are based on various transactions.

"One substantive matter is the chairperson proceeding with the illegal appointment of the BnP Capital in May 2016," says Theron. 

Theron says the due processes were not followed when SAA illegally extended the contract.

"Not only was the appointment process flawed from the onset, the board either failed to perform due diligence on this little known company, or simply ignored the fact that BnP capital did not have a valid Financial Service Provider (FSP) License."

Theron also mentions that when Outa found out that BnP had no license to operate as a financial service provider, SAA summarily cancelled the contract. 

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"BnP further claimed an R49.9 million in cancellation fees without any work being done," adds Theron.

OUTA says the BnP contract was just the tip of the iceberg. 

"We discovered that the chairperson interfered and stopped the Emirates deal when she instructed then SAA CEO, Nico Bezuidenhout, to not sign a MOU, allegedly citing President Jacob Zuma's disapproval of the deal as her reason for the instruction," says Theron. 

Outa also believes Myeni misrepresented the board when she said only two aircrafts were approved by the Board.

"The board approved ten aircrafts, but Myeni said two. She misrepresented the board by lying," says Theron.

The SAA Board commissioned an Ernst and Young Report two years ago, to look into various issues at the airline. The report found that there were irregularities and people were not following due process.

OUTA says Myeni has still not done anything about the Ernst and Young report, which found that she did not execute her duties.