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SAA board members’ 'boycott' meeting with Myeni

SAA board chairperson Dudu Myeni. Picture Credit: Gallo Images
SAA board chairperson Dudu Myeni. Picture Credit: Gallo Images

None of SAA’s 11 board members was present at Parliament’s finance committee on Tuesday because they refused to appear alongside the “disruptive” chairperson‚ Dudu Myeni‚ who had failed to attend successive board meetings‚ EFF chief whip Floyd Shivambu claimed in an interview after the meeting.

Shivambu said he had it on good authority from more than one board member that board members had decided to boycott the meeting‚ despite the critical issues facing the airline‚ because of their unhappiness about Myeni.

“We have it on good authority from board members that they do not want to be associated with Dudu Myeni because she is continuing with the same antics she was doing before this new board was appointed‚” Shivambu said. “I have this information (about the boycott) as absolute fact.”

DA finance spokesman David Maynier and deputy Alf Lees also believed there was a boycott.

If true‚ this would indicate a serious breakdown in the relationship between the recently appointed board of the ailing airline and its chairperson who has never before appeared at a committee meeting without some board members.

The absence of all board members prompted committee members to decide not to continue with SAA’s briefing on its quarterly performance and its strategic plan.

Committee chairman Yunus Carrim said it was now the norm of the committee to have at least two other board members apart from the chair and/or deputy chair to be present.

He said he had come under pressure over the past week to postpone the meeting with SAA.

ANC committee member Thandi Tobias emphasised that the entire leadership of SAA had to take responsibility for the airline at this crucial time.

“If the full board is not here we should not entertain discussions. We want to engage the board‚ not one member of the board‚” she said.

Another committee member‚ Dikeledi Mahlungu‚ said the absence of board members “raised suspicions” and questions as to whether there was something wrong with the board.

The presence of board members was even more important‚ MPs said‚ because of a newspaper report that Myeni was in conflict with the board.

Business Times has reported that Myeni’s continued absence from board meetings had prompted the rest of the board to seek legal advice on her actions.

The newspaper also reported on Sunday that Myeni had tried to use Finance Minister Malusi Gigaba to stop an SAA board meeting which sat to decide on the appointment of a permanent CEO.

Myeni defended herself in an interview after the finance committee meeting‚ saying that she had attended the three scheduled quarterly board meetings.

It could not be expected that she attend hastily called board meetings which were sometimes called to address just one issue. “We cannot as nonexecutive directors have eight or 10 board meetings‚” she said.

Carrim rejected the airline’s presentation on its strategic plan and quarterly performance as a “pathetic“‚ “flimsy” document unworthy of consideration.

Myeni and her team answered questions about SAA’s loan repayments and its ability to pay salaries‚ with the rest of the questions being held over to another committee meeting on August 3.

Deputy Finance Minister Sifiso Buthelezi was also not present as he had a doctor’s appointment.

 

- BusinessLIVE

 

 

 

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