Former SAA chairperson Dudu Myeni
Photo by: Creamer Media
The Pretoria High Court is expected to hear an application by former South African Airways (SAA) chair Dudu Myeni's legal team on Monday to have other board members at the flag carrier included in the delinquent director case is facing.
Myeni led the national flag carrier's board between December 2012 and October 2017.
The Organisation Undoing Tax Abuse (Outa) and SAA Pilots Association want the court to declare her a delinquent director, based on her leadership during the period. If the court rules in favour of the application, she will no longer be able to act as a company director.
The start of the case has been delayed several times. Myeni previously claimed she did not have sufficient funds to afford legal representation or to travel to Pretoria. The trial is set to begin on January 27.
If Myeni is found to be a delinquent director by the court, she will not be able to serve on any boards for several year, according to the Companies Act.
It is not yet known if Myeni will attend Monday's hearing, but her lawyers will argue that other SAA board members should also join the case as defendants. The former SAA chair has also applied to the court to amend her original plea. According to Outa, Myeni's lawyers are expected to ask the court that her plea be amended to partly deny her personal involvement in wrongdoing at the airline, and shift responsibility to SAA executive management.
Outa, in turn, has applied for a cost order against Myeni for dragging out the case.
"The matter must have been done and dusted by now. We want a cost order on a punitive scale," said Outa chief legal officer Stephanie Fick, who spoke to Fin24 by phone on Monday morning before the case commenced. Arguments are expected to continue on Tuesday, said Fick.