Johannesburg - Former SAA board chairperson Dudu Myeni has fired back at Organisation Undoing Tax Abuse (Outa) and asked a court to declare a statement published on Twitter “false and defamatory”.
She wants an unconditional apology from Outa and called on the North Gauteng High Court in Pretoria to prevent Outa from making further harmful statements against her. She is also suing for R8 million for injury to her reputation.
Outa and the SAA Pilots’ Association organisations lodged an application in the high court in March 2017 asking the court to declare Myeni a delinquent director, arising from her actions as SAA chairperson from December 2012 to October 2017.
In court papers, Myeni said Outa published a tweet on October 3 2019 which read: “A reminder of the damage #DuduMyeni caused at #SAA. She also sat on several other boards, incl.#MhlathuzeWaterBoard. Imagine the damage done there. #OUTA is the only civil action org holding her accountable. Become an #ActiveCitizen + support our cause".
Myeni said that attached to the Tweet was a “digital pamphlet with a picture of myself with the following words directly beneath the picture: ‘DUDU MYENI: The Delinquent Director?’. There is an Outa logo placed at the bottom right corner.”
Myeni said that pamphlet contained claims alleging that during her time at SAA, she was responsible for a R10.5bn loss, approved R15bn BNP Capital Illegal Contract, approved R50m BNP Capital cancellation fee, caused delays in vital Airbus transaction and lost a R2bn Emirates partnership.
“This statement was published in the week leading up to the start of the now much publicized court case at the High Court Pretoria, wherein OUTA seeks to have me declared a delinquent director under Section 162 of the Companies Act 2008 over a number of issues that pertain to my tenure as chairperson of the board of South African Airways (SAA).”
Myeni said the tweet forms part of a series of ‘numerous extremely slanderous and vexatious statements made by Outa on various public platforms intended to vilify me, assassinate my character and injure my reputation’.
“The allegations made by OUTA in this particular instance are stated as statements of fact and the gist thereof in this particular tweet defames me.”
She said the allegations contained in the statement ‘in as far as they are directed at me, are false and misleading. There is no circumstantial evidence or otherwise that can prove any of the allegations as being the truth. “There has been no investigation or any other legal process that has made findings that would render the above said statements as true or lawfully made.”