Johannesburg - A criminal charge must be laid against former SAA board chairperson Dudu Myeni for her defiance of a summons, says Deputy Chief Justice Raymond Zondo.
Myeni was scheduled to appear before the commission on Tuesday at 9 m. Her lawyer, advocate Nqabayethu Buthelezi, pleaded with the inquiry that Myeni had no intention to defy the summons but sought a stay of the summons.
He said Myeni had family commitments and was unable to appear.
The explanation did little to convince evidence leader advocate Kate Hofmyer as she sought to convince Justice Zondo that Myeni should be sanctioned with a criminal charge.
Hofmeyr said Myeni had basically given herself a postponement by choosing not to appear before the commission.
She said that usually witnesses appeared before the commission and submitted an affidavit seeking a postponement, but Myeni had not done so.
Hofmeyr said Myeni had a history of non-compliance with summonses and had previously done so when she was asked to appear before Parliament's committee on public enterprises in 2018.
In 2018, the committee had resolved that Myeni's defiance could be deemed an offence and a criminal charge should be laid.
Parliament did not lay a criminal charge against Myeni, Hofmeyr said.
She told Justice Zondo that Myeni's actions warranted a criminal complaint. This is the second time that Myeni had defied a summons issued by the commission.
Myeni's last appearance was in November. She spent the bulk of her testimony refusing to answer questions that would have incriminated her.
Justice Zondo said he was surprised that Parliament had not laid a criminal charge against the former SAA board chairperson. He equated her non-appearance to that of someone defying a court order.
He ruled that the commission's secretariat should lay a criminal charge against Myeni because "there appears to be no valid reason why Myeni chose not to appear".
The commission chairperson said Myeni would have to appear on Tuesday.