Dudu Myeni 'too sick to fly' to inquiry

Former SAA chairwoman Dudu Myeni has yet again failed to make an appearance before the parliamentary inquiry into state capture‚ but in a written submission has denied the testimony of former Eskom chairman Zola Tsotsi that she told him that three senior Eskom executives should be suspended.

According to Tsotsi's testimony to the committee the meeting took place at the Durban home of then-president Jacob Zuma‚ who made an appearance at the encounter.

The three mentioned senior executives - including former CEO Tshediso Matona - were in fact subsequently suspended in March 2015.

The public enterprises committee did not accept Myeni's written submission as sufficient and is demanding that she appear before it to answer questions.

Myeni was due to appear Wednesday but failed to do so. She explained her failure to appear to her medical condition which she said prevented her from flying and travelling long distances.

The committee has decided that she must submit a medical certificate within 24 hours and appear next Wednesday‚ failing which it will consider issuing a subpoena.

The committee wrote several letters of invitation to Myeni‚ who only phoned inquiry chairperson Zukiswa Rantho on Tuesday to explain her non-appearance.

Democratic Alliance spokesperson on public enterprises Natasha Mazzone was not sympathetic towards Myeni's explanation for her absence.

"It is very clear that this is nothing more than a cat and mouse game. She has been given several chances. I don’t buy this. I think we are being taken for fools and we should not allow it to happen‚" Mazzone said.