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The Zondo Commission abruptly rose for lunch Thursday after former SAA president Dudu Myeni revealed the name of a witness that President Raymond Zondo had ordered not to be released. Myeni continued to refuse to answer questions, claiming that she had been unfairly vilified.
“If there is an order that I have made, it must be honored,” Supreme Court Vice President Raymond Zondo said before the State Capture Commission of inquiry suspended the session for lunch Thursday.
“I have to reflect on what you just did.”
Former SAA president Dudu Myeni had just revealed the identity of “Mr. X”, a witness who implicated her in presumably unreliable offers of Mhlathuze Water Board and a dwelling contract of the Mpumalanga government.
Zondo ordered that the witness, who testified behind closed doors, be named Mr. X to protect his safety. He explained the order to Myeni before she mentioned Mr. X’s name several times on Thursday.
Myeni testified via video link during her second day on the commission. She is in self-isolation after being exposed to Covid-19. He continued to refuse to answer questions, claiming the right not to incriminate himself.
Advocate for the leader of the evidence Kate Hofmeyr presented Myeni with testimony related to a letter that six SAA board members sent to then-minister of public enterprises, Malusi Gigaba, in 2014.
They complained that Myeni had rudely represented himself to the minister regarding a deal to buy new planes, had canceled board meetings and had a leadership style that exposed the entire board to allegations of breach of its fiduciary duties.
A report from the public companies department on SAA’s divided leadership, presented to Gigaba’s successor, Lynne Brown, found the board to be dysfunctional. The board members who complained were replaced and only Myeni and His Kwinana they were retained.
Hofmeyr asked Myeni which board members had been retained in the 2014 restructuring.
“May I not respond, President, in case you incriminate me,” Myeni repeated.
Zondo allowed him to continue refusing to give answers until Hofmeyr objected.
Earlier in the day, Myeni complained that she had been branded corrupt due to her association with former president Jacob Zuma (she chairs his Jacob G Zuma Foundation) and for prioritizing transformation at the airline.
She said that, in hindsight, she would not have agreed to preside over the Zuma foundation, from which she is accused of diverting money.
In May, the North Gauteng High Court declared Myeni a criminal director for life. He also recommended that the NPA investigate his time at SAA. Myeni and his lawyers have stated that he could face criminal charges soon and that they should be allowed to remain silent on the SAA’s problems.
“I came before this commission knowing clearly that I am guilty… I am a criminal. I came before this commission also because I didn’t want to be despicable, ”Myeni said.
She claimed that the commission’s leaders and evidence investigators, not Zondo, whom she respects, she emphasized, and the media had created a narrative that certain leaders were corrupt.
“I feel, President, that there is a certain group of factions that is being persecuted. There are some people that you, President, may not know that they are being refused to come and present any evidence of corruption, but because it does not fit the narrative today they have not been allowed to come, “he said.
Zondo repeated his call on South Africans to present evidence of corruption.
Myeni also claimed that she is being vilified because she is a black woman.
“President, if I had a choice, I would wake up the next day being Mrs. White or Mrs. Smit or Mrs. Van der Merwe because that name would give me credibility in my own country,” he said.
Hofmeyr challenged his reasons for claiming the right not to incriminate himself and said the privilege is open to abuse.
“I have the experience of not trusting anything I say, President. No matter how strong or how you jump, it will never sink [in] because you know president, we were born to be [seen as] criminals “.
The witnesses of the investigation commissions must answer the questions put to them and can only claim the right not to incriminate themselves when there is a real possibility that they will expose themselves to a criminal charge.
Commission testimonies cannot be used in a criminal case against a defendant.
When Myeni continued to refuse to answer basic questions, Zondo motioned for her to answer, but she again refused to answer.
“Ms. Myeni’s ultimate explanation for not answering these questions is, I believe, nothing short of fanciful and insubstantial because they are not reasons that exist in law for a basis for refusal,” Hofmeyr said.
In listing Myeni’s reasons for refusing to answer, Hofmeyr said: “None of those reasons is a legally valid reason for refusing to answer a question that was asked by this commission, your test leaders and you, chairman.”
Hofmeyr recommended that Myeni be charged with revealing the identity of Mr. X.
Myeni is scheduled to continue testifying through Friday. DM
