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Former SAA board member Yakhe Kwinana testifies before the judicial commission of inquiry regarding the state’s capture on November 2, 2020 in Johannesburg.
- Former SAA board member Yakhe Kwinana’s appearance at the commission on a Saturday followed delays that pressured the investigation to complete its work.
- When asked about the reasons for rejecting an Air France tender offer, Kwinana said that BEE’s compliance and Air France’s supplier development commitments were not satisfactory.
- When asked what he meant by vendor development, Kwinana suggested that maybe he should Google it.
Air France, despite being management’s preferred bidder, was ultimately rejected for the tender due to its lack of commitment to supplier development, the former South African Airways board member and president of SAA Technical said on Saturday. Yakhe Kwinana to the Zondo commission on the capture of the state.
The company had been bidding together with JM Aviation, owned by Vuyo Ndzeku, with whom Kwinana had been communicating. Earlier in the week, test lead Kate Hofmeyr had investigated Kwinana as to why she had been communicating with bidders who ultimately won the R1.2 billion contract with SAAT to supply aircraft components in 2016.
Kwinana’s appearance at the commission on a Saturday followed delays that pressured the investigation to complete its work.
When asked why Air France, which had been the supplier that management recommended to the board, had not won the tender, Kwinana said that BEE compliance and Air France’s supplier development commitments were not satisfactory.
When asked about the distinction between BEE compliance and supplier development, Kwinana focused on the latter.
Hofmeyr pressed Kwinana on what he meant by supplier development. After a pause, Kwinana suggested that maybe I should “use Google.”
‘We talk about many things’
After being assured by Supreme Court Vice President Raymond Zondo that his own understanding of the matter was most relevant, Kwinana stated that one supplier should be able to develop another supplier next door. It did not elaborate on differences in commitment to supplier development among key bidders, but said Air France “had resistance” to the idea.
Hofmeyr told her that the process for this particular tender, as she understood it, specified that suppliers must meet their supplier development commitments and submit their proposals. However, Air France’s competitors, the American company AAR Corporation and its local partner JM Aviation JM Aviation, only submitted theirs after the tender was awarded.
“To be fair, I found it a bit surprising,” Hofmeyr said.
Hofmeyr argued that even if that were the case, as previously stated by former SAAT procurement chief Nontasa Memela, that suppliers were only required to meet their supplier development commitments at the tender stage, Air France was in the same position as your competitors.
Kwinana seemed hesitant to comment.
“As I sit here, I am not sure if Air France was committed to supplier development,” she said.
Investigated by Hofmeyr on how, then, Air France’s offer might have been rejected primarily because of concerns about supplier development compared to its competitors, Kwinana said there were “a lot of things we talked about” that resulted in Air’s rejection. France.
At the time, he did not elaborate.
The investigation continues.
