Cape Town – South African Airways (SAA) will oppose suspended CEO Monwabisi Kalawe’s bid to get the Labour Court to halt his disciplinary hearing, according to the airline’s spokesperson Tlali Tlali.
“Mr Kalawe has throughout his suspension attempted to avoid facing these disciplinary charges at a disciplinary hearing and consistent with such attempts now seeks to interdict this in the Labour Court,” he said on Sunday.
“The Labour Court application appears to be a concerted attempt to avoid accounting in a properly constituted [inquiry] for the serious disciplinary complaints leveled against him.”
The Sunday Times and the Mail & Guardian reported that Kalawe had filed papers in the Labour Court to try and stop the disciplinary case against him and to lift his suspension.
“Significantly Mr Kalawe has, during the course of these proceedings, persisted with scurrilous, serious, personal and defamatory allegations against the SAA chairperson and other board members. To the extent necessary, these allegations will be properly dealt with by the board at the appropriate time and in the appropriate forum,” Tlali said.
He said the company would oppose the Labour Court application and the disciplinary hearing.
Neither Kalawe, nor his lawyers were available to comment on Sunday, or to say when the matter would be heard.
The Mail&Guardian reported that Kalawe stated in an affidavit that he believes SAA board chairperson Dudu Myeni intended to obtain an ‘íncentive payment’ by driving SAA business towards aircraft manufacturer Airbus.
The publication made it clear that Kalawe did not produce evidence of such payment or intended payment and that Kalawe’s allegations remained untested.
He reportedly wants the court to interdict his disciplinary hearing, which was set for April 13.
The Mail&Guardian reported that he alleged in his affidavit that his suspension was triggered by two “protected disclosures he made containing serious allegations against Myeni in relation to her alleged preference for Airbus over its rival Boeing.
He alleged that battles over two sets of planned aircraft purchases had ”blighted” his tenure since even before he took up office in June 2013.
One was over proposals to source a new wide-body long-haul fleet at an estimated cost of some R60bn; and the second was over plans to implement an existing contract for a fleet of new medium-range A320 Airbus aircraft.
In both cases, he alleged Myeni played a central role. He also claimed that Myeni has enormous power because she is close to President Jacob Zuma.
Malusi Gigaba, who was public enterprises minister at the time, scheduled an urgent meeting of the full board to discuss the concerns raised in a letter Kalawe had written about the possible aircraft purchases. Kalawe said in his affidavit Myeni did not attend and in May 2014, Gigaba was moved to the department of home affairs and replaced by Lynne Brown.
SAA was also later moved from the public enterprises portfolio to the Treasury.
Kalawe’s main disciplinary charge reportedly relates to attempts during his suspension to secure evidence that Myeni had foreign bank accounts, which he believed would show evidence of her receipt of “incentive payments”.
Kalawe paid over R150 000 to a technology expert for copies of foreign bank statements purporting to be in the name of Myeni, but these turned out to be fake.
He had passed them on to forensic investigator Paul O’Sullivan, who immediately distributed the documents including to Myeni and lawyers investigating Kalawe on behalf of SAA.
He said that he was being charged for giving the documents to O’Sullivan, knowing he would distribute them and that it was considered a breach of his duties.
He said he had given the information to O’Sullivan in good faith. This was a “protected disclosure and should not be used in a disciplinary case against him.
SAA is one of several state-owned companies which are in crisis.
Eskom’s CEO Zola Tsotsi has resigned, with its CEO Tshediso Matona challenging his suspension after the company announced that he and three other executives had “stepped down”, while three SABC board members were removed last month.
Jenni Evans, News24
