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Former South African Airways chairman Dudu Myeni entered a legal minefield yesterday at Zondo’s commission of inquiry into state capture, violating an order protecting the identity of a witness and was later charged with violating the law that established the commission by “intentionally” obstructing the work of the investigation.
The Commission’s Supreme Court Vice President Raymond Zondo was dumbfounded when Myeni named Mr. X in open testimony (which was broadcast live on various TV channels), even after he warned him not to. .
He told Myeni: “I am disappointed, I did not expect this from you … If someone does not respect an order that I have given, it seems to me that that person also disrespects me.”
He then adjourned the commission’s session early for lunch, interrupting his evidence. After lunch, he ordered that Myeni’s legal representative present the matter to him before Monday so that he could decide what action to take.
The Commission’s evidence leader, defense attorney Kaye Hofmeyer, argued that Myeni should be charged for violating the commission’s act, because her disclosures of Mr. X’s identity would dissuade “future complaining witnesses from coming forward.”
Later yesterday afternoon, no video could be found of the commission’s proceedings relating to the section on Mr. X, indicating that the commission had asked media platforms not to use it. Judge Zondo also repeated to the media that the order prohibiting the disclosure of Mr. X’s identity was still in force.
Mr. X had testified earlier, on camera, about the dealings he had with Myeni when she was president of the Mhlathuze Water Board and how he had left wads of cash for her at her home office. Myeni, for the most part, kept repeating that she would not answer any questions that might incriminate her, but then went on to detail her relationship with Mr. X.
Meanwhile, political analysts Roland Henwood, a political lecturer and independent expert from the University of Pretoria Dr. Ralph Mthekga, deemed Myeni’s victim “useless”. Myeni has told Zondo that she was being haunted by her closeness to Zuma.
Henwood said: “It is a politically populist mechanism for defense and survival, in line with a defense argument that
I’ve seen former President Jacob Zuma come forward: disarm his opponents and put them on the back foot.
“She is playing for the public gallery, trying to win the sympathy of the public and pressuring the commission to be persecuting her, undermining her.
“To some extent, you may refuse to incriminate yourself by not answering questions, but at some point, it will come down to the fact that you had the opportunity to explain yourself and defend yourself, but you didn’t use it.
Mathekga said: “Myeni has enjoyed many privileges due to her association with Jacob Zuma, demonstrated by having served on various boards of state-owned companies, without any title.
“She has enjoyed these privileges due to her personal relationship with Jacob Zuma. “It makes no sense for her to say that she is being victimized for what she has done, while enjoying the privileges of Zuma.
“She is the one who used her relationship with Zuma to gain power by occupying positions of power.
“This investigative hearing has to do with his conduct when he was in power and he must be accountable to the country for what led SAA to be in the situation it is in today.”
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