The Organisation for Undoing Tax Abuse (Outa) celebrated as a “first victory” that the matter involving suspended South African Airways (SAA) group treasurer Cynthia Stimpel’s matter “will be heard by an impartial commissioner”.
Outa’s Ivan Herselman‚ said the “airline capitulated after a sustained and unwavering defensive challenge by Stimpel” and agreed to refer her disciplinary hearing to the Council for Conciliation‚ Mediation and Arbitration (CCMA).
“SAA wanted Stimpel to give an undertaking that she would not launch any further court proceedings relating to one of the charges and to pay the costs of the court application‚” said Herselman‚ Outa’s director of legal affairs.
“Neither of these requests were acceded to and the matter will now be heard by the CCMA in the near future.”
BDlive reported that Stimpel had exposed the now-infamous deal between the airline and little-known “boutique” financier BnP Capital‚ which stood to score a R256-million success fee for sourcing R150billion to restructure the carrier’s debt. The fee was inflated to at least three times that of competitors.
It reported that‚ before approaching Outa‚ Stimpel had spent months raising the alarm about the deal and discussed her concerns at length with acting chief financial officer Phumeza Nhantsi without luck. She then made the protected disclosure.
Herselman said Outa had established its whistleblower protection programme as “when an employee working for the state notices a potential criminal abuse of authority‚ the biggest fear the potential whistleblower faces is being caught alone in the storm after making their protected disclosure”.
The intention of the programme was “to defend whistleblowers against any victimisation tactics that may be implemented by the state and others‚ in order to muzzle those who have the courage to stand up against flagrant abuse of state funds and processes”.
This‚ Herselman hoped‚ “will encourage more active citizenry in fighting corruption and maladministration”.
Click here to read more on Business Day LIVE
– TMG Digital
Suspended SAA treasurer’s legal victory is a success for our whistleblower protection programme: Outa
The Organisation for Undoing Tax Abuse (Outa) celebrated as a “first victory” that the matter involving suspended South African Airways (SAA) group treasurer Cynthia Stimpel’s matter “will be heard by an impartial commissioner”.
Outa’s Ivan Herselman‚ said the “airline capitulated after a sustained and unwavering defensive challenge by Stimpel” and agreed to refer her disciplinary hearing to the Council for Conciliation‚ Mediation and Arbitration (CCMA).
“SAA wanted Stimpel to give an undertaking that she would not launch any further court proceedings relating to one of the charges and to pay the costs of the court application‚” said Herselman‚ Outa’s director of legal affairs.
“Neither of these requests were acceded to and the matter will now be heard by the CCMA in the near future.”
BDlive reported that Stimpel had exposed the now-infamous deal between the airline and little-known “boutique” financier BnP Capital‚ which stood to score a R256-million success fee for sourcing R150billion to restructure the carrier’s debt. The fee was inflated to at least three times that of competitors.
It reported that‚ before approaching Outa‚ Stimpel had spent months raising the alarm about the deal and discussed her concerns at length with acting chief financial officer Phumeza Nhantsi without luck. She then made the protected disclosure.
Herselman said Outa had established its whistleblower protection programme as “when an employee working for the state notices a potential criminal abuse of authority‚ the biggest fear the potential whistleblower faces is being caught alone in the storm after making their protected disclosure”.
The intention of the programme was “to defend whistleblowers against any victimisation tactics that may be implemented by the state and others‚ in order to muzzle those who have the courage to stand up against flagrant abuse of state funds and processes”.
This‚ Herselman hoped‚ “will encourage more active citizenry in fighting corruption and maladministration”.
Click here to read more on Business Day LIVE
– TMG Digital
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