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Former SAA President Dudu Myeni testified at the State Capture Commission about Zoom on November 4, 2020 while in self-isolation after being exposed to Covid-19. (Photo: Greg Nicolson)
Former SAA president Dudu Myeni has a history of trying to circumvent legal proceedings and declined to answer questions at the State Capture Commission on Wednesday, claiming that she could incriminate herself.
Dudu Myeni delayed appearing in North Gauteng Superior Court when the Undoing Tax Abuse Organization and the SAA Pilots Association successfully petitioned to be declared a director in default. The former chairwoman of the SAA board claimed that she could not afford fuel to travel from KwaZulu-Natal.
Myeni testified at the State Capture Investigation Commission via video link on Wednesday. She said she was in self-isolation after being exposed to Covid-19.
After Myeni’s connectivity issues were finally resolved, she said she respected the commission’s work, but invoked her right to silence to avoid incriminating herself.
“May I not respond, President, in case he incriminates me,” Myeni repeatedly told the vice chairman of the investigation, Raymond Zondo.
Myeni has been accused of blocking SAA’s crucial lease agreement with Airbus in 2015 and attempting to present a local company as an intermediary. Then-Finance Minister Nhlanhla Nene had said it would be disastrous for the country’s finances if the Airbus deal failed.
She is accused of pressuring SAA officials to sign irregular black empowerment agreements with Swissport SA and Engen, and of harassing those who questioned their directives to remove them from the organization.
SAA’s finances failed under his leadership and the SOE is now in a corporate bailout, seeking to relaunch after another recent government bailout.
Former Bosasa COO Angelo Agrizzi claimed his company paid Myeni R300,000 a month, allegedly to go towards the foundation of former president Jacob Zuma, which Myeni chairs.
She is accused to orchestrate the suspension of Eskom officials, paving the way for dubious new deals in parastatal power.
Myeni is also alleged washing bribes while sitting at the Mhlathuze Water Board and ordered funds from a state housing contract, earned by her son’s company, to be paid to the Zuma Foundation.
The commission has heard accusations who received illegal protection from the State Security Agency for being seen as an ally of Zuma.
“Chairman, SAA-related matters, I would really rather invoke my right to remain silent on any SAA-related matter,” Myeni told Judge Zondo on Wednesday.
In May, North Gauteng Superior Court Judge Ronel Tolmay declared Myeni a felony director for life. Judge Tolmay recommended that the NPA investigate the allegations against the former SAA president, who ran the airline between 2012 and 2017.
“We are not suggesting that there is a general right to refuse to answer questions,” defender Thabani Masuku, a representative of Myeni, told the commission.
He said Myeni was likely to face criminal charges after Tolmay’s trial and that she should be allowed to avoid incriminating herself.
“There are probably Hawks waiting outside to arrest her; that’s what we heard this morning, ”Masuku said.
“We understand that there is a real hammer on her head and which hammer is Tolmay’s trial and the real reports about royal police looking for her to arrest her,” he continued.
Myeni also cast doubt on the commission’s credibility. He said Outa submitted documents to the North Gauteng Superior Court that came from the State Capture Commission and included his watermark.
She and her lawyers suggested that those documents could have been leaked or used illegally.
Advocate Nqabayethu Buthelezi, who also represents Myeni, said: “If this commission later participated in the process of her declaration as a delinquent director, then it creates this apprehension by saying that this commission is participating in other outside law processes, not say outside the law. law, but Outa is not a law enforcement agency. “
Advocate for evidence leader Kate Hofmeyr said that submissions to the commission become a public record once witnesses appear in front of Judge Zondo and the commission has heard evidence about SAA prior to the Outa case.
Hofmeyr said the research watermark was added to the documents when they are uploaded to the commission’s website and are later considered public.
While that suggested that the documents Outa submitted to the North Gauteng Superior Court were already considered public records, Hofmeyr said the evidence leaders had asked Myeni’s lawyers to subpoena particular documents so they could verify whether they were publicly available. Myeni’s lawyers did not list the documents.
Judge Zondo allowed Myeni to refuse to answer even the most basic questions. He said he would consider them and see if Myeni’s refusals are justified on the grounds that she might incriminate herself. Then I could go back and direct her to respond.
Hofmeyr began questioning Myeni, who promised to listen to the questions and answer where she felt comfortable, asking her if she understood her fiduciary duties when she was appointed interim president of the SAA in late 2012. Myeni declined to respond.
Myeni served on the board of directors of the Mangaung Centlec electricity supplier. Hofmeyr asked about his compensation on the board and if he received R35,000 for his work on the board in September 2019.
“President, I would like to ask whether I am on trial or not,” Myeni replied.
Hofmeyr asked about Myeni’s CV, which was published by the Public Enterprises Department when she was appointed interim president of the SAA. Myeni’s CV said she had a degree in business administration, but she never finished her studies.
Myeni defended the inclusion of her partial studies at the University of Zululand in her CV, claiming that she did not have a general understanding of how other people compile their resumes and that it was subject to a “western standard”.
“It is an achievement for a black woman who studied after marriage. It’s a great achievement for me to have passed the first and second years, and is an inspiration to every other black woman somewhere, ”she said.
“I request that you do not answer this question before it becomes something that puts me in a bad position, that I should have followed some Western standards to write a CV.”
Myeni is scheduled to continue testifying at the commission through Friday. DM
