SAA boss didn't really earn his wings

Nico Bezuidenhout, acting boss of SAA, has been exposed as South Africa's latest credentials fake. This week, the airline scrambled to explain the mystery surrounding Bezuidenhout's academic qualifications.

In two annual reports, Bezuidenhout was boldly described as having a BCom degree and an MBA, but this week the national carrier had to admit that he only has a matric.

Like SAA board chairwoman Dudu Myeni, who also misrepresented her academic qualifications, Bezuidenhout does not hold a degree in administration.

Myeni appointed Bezuidenhout as SAA's acting CEO following her controversial decision to suspend the airline's chief executive Monwabisi Kalawe last month.

Bezuidenhout is the latest in a series of high-profile executives and politicians who have been exposed for overstating their qualifications this year.

This week, a red-faced SAA had to admit that its 2011 and 2012 annual reports were wrong to state that Bezuidenhout had a BCom in transport economics and industrial psychology as well as an MBA.

The airline, which spoke on Bezuidenhout's behalf, provided a 10-page CV on Friday which said he had enrolled for a BCom at the then Rand Afrikaans University (now the University of Johannesburg) in 1995, a year after completing matric. His academic records reveal that he dropped out the following year.

In 1997, he registered with the University of South Africa for a BCom majoring in industrial psychology and transport economics. According to his CV one subject, taxation, has been outstanding for 14 years.

He then registered for an MBA with Milpark Education, but never graduated because he did not submit the required thesis.

A request for an interview with Bezuidenhout was turned down by company spokesman Tlali Tlali, who described him as a leading aviation professional. "[He] is well-regarded locally and internationally for [the] depth and breadth of [his] experience."