Johannesburg - Former South African Airways (SAA) board chairperson Dudu Myeni has lost her bid to appeal a ruling which upheld Outa's right to bring a delinquency case against her.
The ruling, which was handed down by Judge Ronel Tomay at the Gauteng High Court, Pretoria, on Tuesday, also ordered that Myeni should pay the legal fees for the SAA Pilots' Association and Outa within 30 days.
In December, Myeni’s legal team made an interlocutory application in which they argued that Outa should not be granted leave to pursue their court action against Myeni. They argued Outa was not categorised under Section 162 (2) of the Companies Act.
But Judge Tolmay, in her ruling delivered on December 12, said Outa was representing the taxpayers who partly foot the bill for SAA and they must have an interest in who is appointed as directors and “if such directors fail in their duties, to hold them to account”.
She dismissed Myeni’s application with costs.
Myeni had argued in her application: “The learned judge misdirected herself in deciding to hear and making rulings on the interlocutory application for leave to amend the plea and joinder applications before hearing the special plea of locus standing (legal standing of Outa) by the first plaintiff,” Myeni said.
Outa's case has been dragged through the courts as Myeni constantly moved to appeal the matter or change lawers.
The organisation wants her to be declared a delinquent director which, if granted, would see Myeni being banned from serving on any public board for several years.
Myeni has been blamed for the financial crisis faced by SAA when she led its board and took various questionable decisions.