By Lehlohonolo Lehana.
Former South African Airways (SAA) board chairperson Dudu Myeni has died at the age of 60, the JG Zuma foundation confirmed.
In a statement released on Saturday afternoon, the foundation, which Myeni chaired, said that she died on Friday night.
“The foundation confirms with a heavy heart that its chairperson, Dudu Myeni, passed on last night (Friday). The family is still dealing with these sad developments and will not be entertaining any media enquiries. The foundation is requesting the media to respect the family position,” it said.
Once one of the most powerful executives in the country because of her proximity to the former president Jacob Zuma and her position at the national carrier and on the boards of other State-Owned-Entities, Myeni was consistently enveloped in allegations of intimidation, fraud, money laundering and corruption. SAA received numerous bailouts under her tenure.
In September last year, she was arrested by the Hawks, along with Sondolo IT director Trevor Mathenjwa, in connection with R300 000 in corrupt and fraudulent dealings relating to then preferred government service provider, Bosasa, for security upgrades to her Richards Bay home.
She has been battling cancer. Myeni couldn’t attend court proceedings in May for her corruption trial due to her treatment.
Myeni was also accused of “benefiting from hotel accommodation and travel expenses for her and persons close to her, from Bosasa, facilitated by Blake Travels, between May 2014 and March 2015 for over R107 000,” according to the Investigating Directorate. She was out on R10 000 bail, along with Mathenjwa, and the matter was set to resume in November this year.
The allegations were first laid out in detail during the State Capture Commission inquiry.
The commission found that Myeni was guilty of facilitating corruption. It found that she influenced Zuma to favour Bosasa.
The report said that Bosasa, involved in “industrial-scale corruption,” secured R2.3 billion in tenders from 2000 to 2016, paying R75 million in bribes to politicians and officials.
In 2020, Myeni was declared a delinquent director by the high court in Pretoria relating to the way she led SAA’s board. The declaration meant Myeni was no longer deemed “fit and proper” to hold directorship of any entity.