Chris Spillane and Franz Wild
SAA’S board suspended chief executive Monwabisi Kalawe in October because of allegations of misconduct, including that he hired a friend on an inflated salary, according to two people familiar with the situation.
Kalawe appointed a former colleague as an executive assistant on a salary more than double the amount earned by the previous employee, said the people, who asked not to be identified because the matter is confidential.
The allegations are being put to Kalawe through an internal disciplinary process. Kalawe referred a request for comment to his lawyer, Maurice Crespi.
“He has given SAA his response to the allegations,” Crespi said last week.
“If you want to know what his response is, you are welcome to speak to SAA and they must disclose to you such information as they deem fit.
“Nothing in this response should be taken as an implicit concession that our client would be unable to answer the imputations of improper conduct on the merits.”
SAA did not respond to e-mailed queries.
SAA, Africa’s biggest airline by traffic, suspended Kalawe, who was appointed on June 1, 2013, without disclosing at the time what the allegations against him were.
He was now in disciplinary hearings before an independent chairman, Nazeer Cassim, a senior member of the Johannesburg Bar, the carrier said last month. A date for the completion of the disciplinary proceedings has not been announced.
SAA instituted a 90-day turnaround plan that was due to end this month, to reduce costs as it seeks to cut reliance on state assistance following three consecutive years of losses.
The company was “technically bankrupt” and was surviving off government-guaranteed loans, Public Enterprises Minister Lynne Brown said late last year.
Kalawe was also accused, in the internal disciplinary process, of wasteful expenditure and breaching the Public Finance Management Act for pushing for SAA to pay Bagport South Africa R400 million for a three-year contract to wrap luggage to reduce theft, the people said.
The airline paid R26m for a three-month trial, which appeared to be overpriced because it exceeded the compensation SAA was paying to customers for stolen or lost items, one of the people said. No charges against him have been brought before a court.
While Kalawe was suspended for the initial allegations, he now also faced an allegation of corruption and invasion of privacy for paying R150 000 for forged bank statements in an attempt to show that Duduzile Myeni, the company’s chairwoman, had received bribes, the people said.
The Sunday Times reported last month that the bank statements were fakes, citing ENSAfrica, a South African legal firm. In the same report SAA spokesman Tlali Tlali said the documents had the “hallmarks of an elaborate conspiracy”.
Kalawe will remain suspended until the inquiry is completed. – Bloomberg