Former SAA board member Yakhe Kwinana is expected to appear at the Johannesburg specialised commercial crimes court sitting at the Palm Ridge magistrate’s court on Tuesday.
TimesLIVE Premium can reveal that Kwinana will be appearing in court in her capacity as chairperson of the audit committee of South African Airways (SAA) and a member of its accounting authority, as she allegedly failed to comply fully with the fiduciary duties imposed on her by the provisions of the Public Finance Management Act.
Well-placed sources with intimate knowledge of the case have confirmed that Kwinana will appear in court for her conduct during her tenure at the crisis-hit airline.
Kwinana allegedly failed to disclose to either PricewaterhouseCoopers (PwC), Nkonki Incorporated or the board of directors and audit committee of SAA or the audit committee of SAA that Kwinana and Associates, of which she was the sole director, had previous contractual relationships with PwC and Nkonki.
TimesLIVE Premium understands that Kwinana is to face a charge of fraud.
When the two firms were appointed by the state-owned airline to a four-year, multimillion-rand auditing contract, Kwinana was chair of the SAA board’s audit and risk subcommittee.
Sunday Times reported that a well-placed source with direct knowledge of the matter confirmed the Hawks serious crime offences unit had been engaging with Kwinana and had secured a warning statement from her in the past two months on her time as a board member of the airline.
There was also an agreement that Kwinana would not be arrested but would hand herself over at a police station and be transported to court where she will be informed of her charges and be able to apply for bail, a source close to the matter told the Sunday Times.
Sources close to the matter told TimesLIVE Premium that the founding principles of the country’s constitutional democracy were transparency and accountability, which Kwinana is alleged to have failed to uphold.
The publication understands that by failing to disclose past contractual relationships with PwC and Nkonki, Kwinana failed to comply with obligations imposed by the constitution.
It is believed the state will argue that Kwinana was a chartered accountant and as a chairperson of the audit committee of SAA, was therefore conversant with the fiduciary duties as well as those of every other employee and non-executive director of SAA.
TimesLIVE Premium understands that PwC completed a bid document in which it tendered for a contract to audit SAA for its 2011/12 financial year. PwC was awarded the tender as joint external auditors with Nkonki Incorporated for the period.
It is alleged that Kwinana was aware that PwC and Nkonki had tendered for the services as, at the time, she was a non-executive member and chairperson of the audit committee of SAA.
The state is expected to argue that Kwinana's failure to disclose past contractual relationships with the two firms caused prejudice to the proper administration of the affairs of SAA and was also prejudicial to the public who were entitled to procurements by organs of state that were fully compliant with the prescripts of the constitution and the law.
TimesLIVE Premium understands that PwC and Nkonki are said to have suffered reputational damage or prejudice in that a contract was awarded to them in circumstances that cast aspersions on them because their past contractual relationships were not disclosed to the bid adjudication committee of SAA that awarded the contract.
The state is also expected to argue in court that the audit committee of SAA chaired by Kwinana was one of the pillars of accountability to the public by SAA.
Would you like to comment on this article?
Sign up (it's quick and free) or sign in now.
Please read our Comment Policy before commenting.