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Yakhe Kwinana testifies before the Zondo Commission in Johannesburg on November 2, 2020 (Photo: Gallo Images / Papi Morake)
Yakhe Kwinana dodged and deflected questions at the State Capture Commission on Monday, much to the frustration of President Raymond Zondo. The former SAA board member and president of SAA Technical described an image of a board that disregarded legal processes and understood procurement regulations according to its own whims.
On Monday, the Deputy Chairman of the State Capture Investigation Commission, Raymond Zondo, had to repeatedly beg Yakhe Kwinana to directly answer questions asked by defender Kate Hofmeyr about alleged wrongful conduct at SAA, as a former member of the SAA board and SAA technician (SAAT). The president dodged and deflected even the simplest questions.
Kwinana declined to answer questions directly, but in trying to avoid getting involved in corruption allegations, she made shocking revelations about how she and the boards of directors she served on neglected procurement policies by intervening in various deals.
His testimony began with an opening statement that sought to accuse the commission of failing to investigate other allegations at the failed airline.
Kwinana’s lawyer, Lindelwa Mbanjwa, claimed that the commission’s trial leaders had not provided her with relevant information and asked Hofmeyr to recuse himself due to prejudice.
Hofmeyr, who said there was “considerable evidence” linking Kwinana and former SAA president Dudu Myeni to corruption, detailed the commission’s attempts to implicate Kwinana since November 2019 and Kwinana’s attempts to delay the process attacking the work of the commission.
“Mrs. Mbanjwa, I will not allow you to waste the time of this commission, ”Zondo told the lawyer, who intervened repeatedly.
Later, after Kwinana repeatedly avoided the questions and provided nonsensical answers, a frustrated Zondo said, “Ms. Kwinana, I don’t know how I can explain this to you. You are not serving yourself. You are not doing yourself justice.
“You are a professional. You are a certified public accountant. Clients trust that you can do your job as a certified public accountant. I don’t know how many times I’ve explained simple things and tried, to be fair to you, to tell you that please only answer the questions that are asked of me. “
Kwinana served on SAA’s board of directors between 2009 and 2016 and was allegedly central to several corruption cases at the airline and its subsidiary SAAT. She couldn’t remember when she was named SAAT president, perhaps in 2014 or 2015, she said.
She was supposedly paid out R 4.3 million for a company named Xanosparks in September 2016. That company is directly linked to Vuyisile Ndzeku, whose company JM Aviation worked with Swissport SA to provide aviation and ground services to SAAT.
The commission heard how Kwinana met with Swissport leaders in February 2016 to tell the company that the contract it won in 2012 and which would be renewed month by month was irregular and should be put out to tender.
She had been speaking with Ndzeku at the time, advising him on SAA’s BEE policies and how then-President Jacob Zuma’s instruction that state-owned companies should spend 30% of their procurement budgets on black-owned companies should be implemented.
She insisted that she had a professional relationship with Ndzeku and advised him on various issues without charging for her services.
In an email after the February 2016 meeting, Swissport CEO Peter Kohl said that Kwinana chaired the meeting and said the company would have to sacrifice 30% of its revenue to a BEE company chosen by SAA, which according to Kohl was illegal. Another Swissport employee present at the meeting backed up their claims.
Kwinana claimed that these testimonies were fabricated.
Rather than deny that Swissport was the heavy hitter, Kwinana said the issues were never discussed. He didn’t remember why, but said the meeting was over in minutes. The meeting was clearly about operational matters.
“I was asked to provide support,” Kwinana said, on why she, a board member, was there in the first place.
“But why Should a board member attend a meeting that is supposed to be dealing with operational matters? Aren’t there other executives who support that executive? Zondo asked.
Kwinana said she was instructed to attend, it is unclear by whom, to advise on the implementation of black empowerment acquisition policies and the government’s position on such issues.
He claimed that he had never seen the final contract, which he maintained was just an extension of the 2012 contract. Zondo, amazed, asked if board members often talk about the terms and conditions of the contracts without seeing the final documents.
In March 2016, the SAA board approved a five-year contract for Swissport worth more than R1 billion. Kwinana claimed that as a board member, he only saw the terms and conditions of the contract and thought it was an extension of the 2012 contract.
He couldn’t explain how his claims that the contract should go out to tender had suddenly vanished.
She claimed that she had never seen the final contract, which she claimed was just an extension of the 2012 contract. Zondo, in amazement, asked if board members often talk about the terms and conditions of the contracts without seeing the final documents. .
“Oh yes, President,” he said.
Zondo, repeatedly asking about the board’s approach, said, “It kind of horrifies me.”
Kwinana was also asked about SAA’s decision to cancel a contract awarded to LSG Sky Chefs to provide catering services in the airline’s lounges.
LSG won the contract, previously held by SAA subsidiary Air Chefs, after winning an open tender. Myeni was on the Air Chefs board when the SAA board stepped in.
“If my daughter is selling vetkoeks here at home, why should she go buy vetkoeks next door?” asked Kwinana about the decision to revoke SAA’s contract with LSG.
He claimed the deal would lead to Air Chefs collapse and 1,500 jobs could be lost if the airline supported a “foreign” company. LSG is registered as a company in South Africa, but is owned by Lufthansa.
Mathulwane Mpshe, SAA’s interim CEO at the time, has testified that Air Chefs failed during the first step of the bidding process and only got 4.26% of its revenue from the contract. She denied that the SAA subsidiary would collapse if it lost the deal.
However, the contract included a provision that all Air Chefs employees who provide services to SAA in connection with work must be employed by LSG.
“She was not telling the truth,” Kwinana said Monday.
But he admitted that he never verified the veracity of Mpshe’s claims about the deal because he objected as soon as SAA executives considered allowing anyone other than Air Chefs to get involved.
He accused Mpshe of lying and then supporting LSG’s legal offer regarding the matter, claims of which he admitted he had no proof.
Kwinana has been accused of claiming that planned to get R100 million in settlements from SAAT after you resign and as your testimony continues, you are likely to face questions about your interactions with service providers during the tender negotiations.
The commission spent considerable time trying to understand their views on whether public company officials should be able to communicate with bidders while tenders are still open.
Zondo has previously heard evidence related to the SAA that decision-makers in state-owned companies should not have communication with bidding companies before bidding ends.
Zondo, who often seemed exasperated during Kwinana’s testimony, questioned how board members would accept a stranger attending meetings without explanation.
Kwinana said it depends on the situation. After much insistence, he said that while the policy could prohibit it, it is difficult for those signing the deals to avoid employees of the bidding companies, as they could work with state-owned companies on unrelated deals.
“If you were a decision maker in SAA regarding a certain tender that has not been closed, were you allowed to communicate with someone from a company that submitted a bid regarding that tender?” Zondo asked.
“In theory, this is how it’s supposed to be,” Kwinana replied.
She continued: “As much as that is said in procurement policy, it is difficult. One of the reasons that it is difficult and almost impractical to apply is because some of the bidders may be working with the company at the time and therefore may be in and out of the office because they are working while there is another bid in course “.
She said bidders and decision makers could chat if they didn’t talk about the tender. Zondo scoffed, asking how you could check what bidders and bidders should discuss in a meeting.
Kwinana was also questioned about Nick Linnell, an associate of Myeni who was a supposed broker of corrupt deals during Zuma’s presidential term.
She said Linnell regularly attended board meetings, made presentations and offered legal advice, but no one asked why he was there or who invited him. The SAA paid him for the services, but Kwinana, a certified public accountant who chaired the SAA’s board risk and audit committee, never asked why.
Zondo, who often seemed exasperated during Kwinana’s testimony, questioned how board members would accept a stranger attending meetings without explanation.
Kwinana’s testimony continues. Myeni is also expected to appear before the commission this week, as he continues to delve into allegations of corruption regarding the aviation industry. DM
