OUTA and the SA Airways Pilots Association (Saapa) have vowed to write to former president Jacob Zuma and ask him to remove Dudu Myeni as chairperson of the Jacob Zuma Foundation after Myeni was declared a delinquent director.
On Wednesday, Judge Ronel Tolmay of the North Gauteng High Court in Pretoria handed down her ruling following an application by Outa and Saapa lodged in March 2017.
The trial hearing over Myeni's fitness to operate as a director was heard in January this year and the decision was delayed due to the outbreak of Covid-19 which also affected the operations of the courts in the country.
During the trial, Outa and Saapa legal counsel Advocate Carol Steinberg asked the court to declare Myeni a delinquent director, arguing that she was responsible for the financial maladministration while the national airline’s board chairperson from 2012 until 2017.
In her judgment, Tolmay agreed saying: “This declaration of delinquency is to subsist for the remainder of Ms Myeni’s lifetime.
“This judgment and the evidence led is referred to the NPA for their consideration and determination of whether an investigation regarding possible criminal conduct should follow.”
After the judgment, Outa legal chief officer Stefanie Fick said SAA is an example of a state-owned entity massively damaged by state capture.
“The airline was in a financially disastrous position for years, culminating in being placed in business rescue at the end of last year. This left it in no position to survive the economic effects of the Covid-19 pandemic which has grounded it. Thousands now stand to lose their jobs," he said.
He added: "Myeni is still a director of various entities and we shall now be writing to them to have the formal CIPC processes undertaken to have her removed from these boards, including the Jacob Zuma Foundation and the Mangaung metro’s electricity utility.
Myeni was not available for comment and the person who answered her official cellphone asked the reporter to contact her attorney Daniel Mantsha.
Mantsha was also not available for comment.
Meanwhile, the Democratic Alliance has welcomed the High Court ruling.
DA spokesperson Alf Lees said the decision was due to her turbulent tenure at the national carrier and that Myeni proved that she was clearly unfit, incompetent, and wholly incapable of holding any directorship position.
“The DA has long held the view that Myeni played a major role in bringing SAA to its knees and to its subsequent bankruptcy adding that his party trusts that this judgment would ensure some sort of accountability for Myeni.
*This is a developing story