Myeni’s lies the last straw

Today’s reports that SAA Board Chair Dudu Myeni lied in an attempt to sabotage the appointment of a desperately needed CEO for SAA is the last straw.

When SAA appear before the Finance Committee in Parliament on Tuesday, the DA will press for corporate warlord Myeni to be fired as the SAA Board Chair.

SAA has been without a CEO for more than two years and during this time SAA has lost R6.3 billion through bad management, particularly by the Board of Directors and its Chair, Myeni.

Myeni’s apparent attempt to manipulate Finance Minister, Malusi Gigaba, to get the Board meeting that sat to consider the appointment of a CEO stopped, simply reinforces the delinquent director ruling against Myeni by the Companies and Intellectual Properties Commission (CIPC). Her attempt to have the Companies Tribunal to overturn this CIPC ruling must surely fail and Myeni must be barred from acting as a Director on the Board of any company.

SAA is on the brink of bankruptcy and yet Myeni has allegedly missed the last eight board meetings. SAA has already apparently defaulted on repayments of loans and is scrambling to find replacement funding for R9 billion of loans already overdue and becoming due for repayment in the current year.

In the face of bankruptcy, there are only two options that can be considered for SAA. The one will in all likelihood be yet another taxpayer bailout. However, the logical and sensible option would be to file for business rescue which would put SAA on the road towards recovery and privatisation.

Myeni’s blocking of the SAA CEO appointment shows that she is continuing to obstruct the recovery of SAA. The national carrier is already in a perilous state and she must be removed as Board Chair with immediate effect to stop her doing even more damage to SAA.

Statement issued by Alf Lees MP, DA Shadow Deputy Minister of Finance, 25 June 2017