[imagesource: Papi Morake / Gallo Images]

When Finance Minister Tito Mboweni confirmed that SAA would be receiving R10,5 billion during his medium-term budget policy statement last Wednesday, there was a swift and predictable backlash.

After all, South Africans are genuinely tired of watching taxpayer money used to keep criminally inept enterprises afloat.

Public Enterprises Minister Pravin Gordhan was quick to hit back, citing a “lack of financial literacy and understanding of government processes”, with others pointing out that it would cost almost double to liquidate the airline at a cost of R18,5 billion.

That’s all well and good, but when you consider where that R10,5 billion is being taken from, it’s simply infuriating.

Just when you thought you had heard the last of SAA’s plight for a few days, along comes the State Capture Commission of Inquiry, and the appearance of former SAA board member and SAA Technical (SAAT) chairperson Yakhe Kwinana.

Kwinana served on SAA’s board between 2009 and 2016, and is alleged to be at the centre of many of the scandals that have dogged the national carrier over the past decade.

If ever there was an illustration of how SAA came to be in such a mess, this was it, reports the Daily Maverick:

Kwinana refused to answer questions directly, but as she sought to avoid implicating herself in corruption allegations she made shocking revelations about how she and the boards she served on disregarded procurement policies as they intervened in various deals…

Later, after Kwinana repeatedly avoided questions and provided nonsensical answers, a frustrated [chairperson Deputy Chief Justice Raymond] Zondo, said, “Ms Kwinana, I don’t know how I can explain this to you. You are not doing service to yourself. You are not doing justice to yourself.”

I think that’s the most jarring part. These officials are so used to getting away with whatever they want, that the idea of being held accountable is foreign to them.

When pressed by evidence leader advocate Kate Hofmeyr, Kwinana consistently responded with hostility.

Hofmeyr went as far as to say that she would submit that Kwinana was an “evasive witness”, to which Kwinana responded, “it is evasive to you, but not to me.”

Again, the idea of being held accountable in any way fills these agents of State Capture with contempt.

The standout moment, undoubtedly, was Kwinana justifying SAA’s decision to cancel a contract awarded to LSG Sky Chefs to provide catering services to the airline’s lounges, and giving the contract to Air Chefs, a subsidiary of SAA.

It involved “fat cakes”, popping to your neighbour’s place, and left Zondo scratching his head:

Only in South Africa. Fat cakes at the #StateCaptureInquiry. pic.twitter.com/idTahGF1tG

— Mandy Wiener (@MandyWiener) November 2, 2020

Zondo responded by saying that SAA is a business, and must be run like a business, not a child selling “fat cakes”.

He showed remarkable restraint.

There’s also the small matter of the R1 billion 2016 Swissport contract, which the SAA board approved, although in the dodgiest of circumstances:

Kwinana claimed that as a board member she only saw the terms and conditions of the contract and thought it was an extension of the 2012 contract.

She couldn’t explain how her claims that the contract needed to go to tender had suddenly vanished.

She claimed she never had sight of the final contract, which she maintained was only an extension of the 2012 contract. Zondo, astonished, asked whether board members often talk about the terms and conditions of contracts without seeing the final documents.

“Oh yes, Chair,” she said.

Zondo, repeatedly asking about the board’s approach, said, “It kind of horrifies me.”

It horrifies us all, Judge.

Meanwhile, all those fat cats will more than likely spend the rest of their lives enjoying their ill-gotten fat cakes, with just the black mark of an embarrassing State Capture Commission of Inquiry appearance to their name.

[source:dailymav]