Duduzile In the wake of recent revelations regarding Cynthia Myeni, a South African entrepreneur and public official known professionally as Dudu Myeni, Cynthia Myeni is currently through a terrible phase in her personal and professional life. In a recent report, it was found that the former chairman of South African Airways has maintained major positions in the country without being eligible for them since 2009. Due to the fact that she has not completed her academic studies at the University of KwaZulu Natal, she is ineligible for the vast majority (if not all) of the positions she has held thus far. Since her first public post in 2009, Dudu Myeni has not completed the academic work that would qualify her for certification. Fast forward to 2020, and Dudu Myeni still has not completed the academic work that would qualify her for certification (about 11 years later).
South African Airways (SAA) chairperson Dudu Myeni is currently facing corruption charges stemming from her time as the airline’s chairman. She has been summoned to appear before a special committee, the Zondo Commission, which was established in 2018 to investigate state capture and all related matters, in 2020. Dudu Myeni is unqualified for all of the positions she has held since 2009, which raises the question of how she has managed to get away with it for the preceding eleven years. Will she be found guilty of the corruption charges that have been filed against her in court? These solutions are only available to you if you continue reading this article.
Dudu Myeni Is Best Known As the Former Chairperson Of South African Airways (SAA)
Dudu Myeni, a member of the African National Congress (ANC) of South Africa’s ruling party, has had a long and fruitful professional career. Despite the fact that she was appointed as a non-executive director of South African Airways (SAA) in 2009, she has continued to ascend through the company’s ranks. After several years of hard work, she was appointed temporary head of the agency in 2012, a position she retained until 2015, when she was named SAA’s chairperson.
She has also served on the boards of the Jacob Zuma Foundation, the African Water Association, the Department of Trade and Investment in Kwazulu-Natal, the South African Association of Water Utilities, and the Mhlathuze Water Board, all while serving as chairperson of the South African Association of Water Utilities.
Anyone who has held all of these high and prominent positions would be expected to have attended one of the big institutions in South Africa or abroad and received some type of honorary honours or degree, wouldn’t you? This is usually the case with government officials who have reached the top of their professions, but this is not the case with Dudu Myeni, who has reached the height of his career.
Myeni’s Highest Academic Qualification Is Secondary Teachers Diploma
Dudu Myeni may not have the educational qualifications required to operate in the fields in which she has worked or to hold the positions in which she has held, but she does possess some of them. During her time at Madadeni College, she received a Primary Teacher Diploma, and during her time at Umlazi College, she received a Secondary School Teacher Diploma.
The University of Zululand awarded her a bachelor’s degree in administration, which she used to become a non-executive director of South African Airways (SAA) in 2009. Her academic credentials were listed in the SAA annual report as one of her academic qualifications. She was, however, forthright in stating that she was still in school and had not yet acquired a diploma from the institution. Her bachelor’s degree, on the other hand, was removed from her list of qualifications in the SAA annual report the following year.
When I learn that Myeni does not have the academic requirements to perform the duties of her position, I am saddened since it is something that could have easily been prevented. The crucial twist in this story is that Dudu Myeni has not been able to complete her studies since 2009, when it was claimed that she was still enrolled in classes.
The question on everyone’s mind, however, is how she ascended through the ranks, obtaining repeated promotions, and eventually becoming the chairman of South African Airways (SAA) given that she did not improve her academic credentials. What were the selection criteria? Why hasn’t anyone taken note of this for all these years?
Several Witnesses Implicated Dudu Myeni In 2019 For Corruption At The Zondo Commission
Dudu Myeni
At the Zondo Commission in June 2019, Phumeza Nhantsi, the former Chief Financial Officer (CFO) of the South African Airways (SAA), testified against Dudu Myeni. According to the Zondo Commission’s official name, the Judicial Commission of Inquiry into Claims of State Corruption, was established by the Jacob Zuma administration in January 2018 to look into allegations of state capture.
A whistleblower, Dudu Myeni, was accused by Phumeza Nhantsi of acting as an anonymous source and sending emails to high-ranking SAA executives in order to expose other executives, a move that resulted in the firing of the officials who were implicated. She was also accused of being the architect of the capital agreement between SAA and BnP, despite the fact that she was well aware that BnP had lost its financial services license at the time of the capital deal.
The disclosure of the former SAA chief financial officer stunned the entire country, which was enraged by Dudu Myeni’s actions and took to social media to vent their emotions, with some even calling for her arrest and imprisonment as a result of her actions.
Another witness who testified against Dudu Myeni in front of the Zondo Commission was Angelo Agrizzi, a former Bosasa executive who worked for the company for many years. He accused her of serving as an intermediary for Bosasa’s R300,000 monthly payment to the Jacob Zuma Foundation, which he claimed was made through the Jacob Zuma Foundation.
Afterwards, he accused her of delivering sensitive documents from the National Prosecuting Authority (NPA) detailing the company’s investigations to him and Gavin Watson, the former CEO of Bosasa (now African Global Operations). Consequently, they saw every reason to do whatever it took to keep her on their side, including purchasing costly presents for her as part of their strategy.
Nicholas Linnell, a former Zimbabwean lawyer, has also accused Dudu Myeni of issuing the order to suspend three Eskom employees in 2015. Dudu Myeni has also been accused of ordering the suspension of three Eskom executives in 2015. As a result of all of this, the disgraced former director was summoned to appear before the Zondo Commission.
Dudu Myeni Appeared Before The Zondo Commission In November 2020 And Only Answered Questions Regarding Her Qualifications
In November 2020, Dudu Myeni was slated to testify before the Zondo Commission after numerous witnesses came forward to accuse her of sexual assault. Even before the appointed date, she stated unequivocally that she would not answer any questions about her personal or professional life that could be used against her, stating that she was within her legal rights not to answer such questions. Because she had been labeled a delinquent director for the rest of her life by a court order, when she appeared before the commission via video link in November 2020, she made it clear that she would not answer any questions about the SAA.
This occurred in May 2020, following a petition filed by the South African Airways Pilots’ Association (SAAPA) and the Organization Undoing Tax Abuse (OUTA) requesting that Dudu Myeni be declared a “delinquent director for life” by the South African High Court. Everything she says about the SAA, she claims, may and will be used against her by the National Prosecuting Authority (NPA), which is now conducting an investigation into her.
Throughout the discussion, she was adamant that she would not answer any questions regarding her previous work experience, personal history, or knowledge of the financial act. She was right. Final question: what are your academic qualifications? She responded by citing a document prepared by the Department of Public Enterprises in 2012 to introduce her as the chairperson of SAA and her qualification as the chairperson of Zuma’s foundation, which both state that she has a bachelor’s degree in administration.
According to her defense, the CV did not belong to her and she agreed to have it forwarded to the Zondo Commission. She stated that she would no longer respond to questions about her degree because doing so would put her in jeopardy, and that she would no longer respond to questions about her work experience. While it was clear that Kate Hofmeyr was contradicting herself when she claimed she would submit her CV but that any questions about her degree would put her in peril, she chose to be more responsive instead.
In an interview with Dudu Myeni, she disclosed that she studied Administration at the University of KwaZulu Natal for two years before abandoning her studies without completing her degree. She went on to say that her CV as SAA Chairperson clearly demonstrates that she was studying Administration at the time, but that she was unable to complete her studies for an unknown reason.
She Gave The Zondo Commission One of The Most Absurd Excuses As The Reason She Manipulated Her CV
The question was posed to Dudu Myeni about whether she had ever seen someone include a qualification that they had yet to obtain in their CV during her career and rise to prominence, and what standard she used to create her own CV that led her to include a qualification that she had yet to obtain during her appearance before the Zondo Commission in November 2020.
When Myeni was questioned about her CV, she said that she had written it according to her own standards. Further, she claims she has been preoccupied with addressing poverty, injustice and the many other difficulties she faces as a woman leader that she hasn’t had time to look at other people’s CVs, so she created her own CV exactly the way she wanted it to look without consulting any tutorials. The kind of comment you’d expect from a former SAA Chairperson, to put it mildly.
The former SAA leader summarized her reply by stating that questions regarding her qualifications were not addressed in the Commission’s letter to her, and as a result, she was not prepared to address the inquiries and did not have a stronger response prepared.
The Embattled Former Director Was Charged For Failing To Appear Before The Zondo Commission In May 2021
Dudu Myeni was scheduled to appear before the Zondo Commission on May 25, 2021, but her lawyer, Nqabayethu Buthelezi, appeared before the court alone, requesting that the case be postponed because the majority of the questions they were going to ask his client were questions she had already been asked and refused to answer because it could implicate her. The case was ultimately postponed, and Dudu Myeni was allowed to appear before the commission on May 26, 2021.
Dudu Myeni
According to Kate Hofmeyr and Pule Seleka, who did not accept Dudu Myeni’s justification for refusing to appear before the commission because she had not requested a postponement in writing, she had no basis for declining to appear before the panel. A criminal offense was committed by Dudu Myeni when she refused to appear in court. Her reluctance to appear in court was her way of refusing to be held accountable.
When the commission’s secretary, Itumeleng Mosala, was asked to file criminal charges against Dudu Myeni, which would be her second criminal charge (the first had been for revealing the identity of an anonymous witness), Dudu Myeni agreed and was summoned to appear before the commission via video connection the following day, which she did.
Dudu Myeni Denies Having Anything To Do With The Running Of Eskom And Suspension Of Three Executives
Following her appearance before the commission in 2020 and communicating solely in English, Dudu Myeni requested to speak in her native language, but the judge denied her request because there was no translator at the time and because she had not made her request in advance so that the commission could arrange for one.
When asked about a meeting she had with former Eskom chairman Zola Tsotsi and SAA legal advisor Nicholas Linnell on the 6th and 8th of March at Jacob Zuma’s home to discuss Eskom’s operations and the suspension of three executives, she admitted that she had attended the meeting, which had been confirmed by both Nick Linnell and Zola Tsotsi earlier this year.
According to her response, she admitted that she had forgotten what had happened at the meeting because she is prone to forgetting things, which is why she keeps a diary to keep track of events, but that she recalls that someone approached her and said he wanted to meet with Zola Tsotsi and asked for advice on hiring legal counsel, and that Zola Tsotsi had also wanted to meet with the president but had been unable to do so because of scheduling conflicts.
She eventually admitted that the “someone” in question was Jabu Maswanganyi after members of the committee insisted that she mention the name of this “someone,” but her testimony was in direct conflict with what Zola Tsotsi and Nick Linnell had informed the committee. Despite their assertions, she insisted that she was only aiding Zola Tsotsi and that she had no interest in becoming the next CEO of Eskom, as they had claimed.
However, despite emails and memos demonstrating the veracity of the testimony provided by Tsotsi and Linnell, Dudu Myeni continues to dispute the charge, stating that she responded to all of her emails and that the emails offered as evidence against her were sent without her knowledge.
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