Former SAA board chair Dudu Myeni is no stranger to delinquent behaviour. She is collecting criminal charges almost as swiftly as she is alleged to have collected a Louis Vuitton handbag, stuffed with R300,000 in cash, from her friends at Bosasa. Her respect for the law is negligible. Yesterday, she stooped to another low when she tried to bully a TimesLIVE/Sunday Times photographer, simply for doing his job.
Her most recent court appearance was on a charge of defeating and obstructing the proper administration of justice. This after she purposely unmasked the identity of a whistle-blower who was fearing for his life. The witness, known as “Mr X”, was giving damning evidence before the state capture inquiry against Myeni, who allegedly siphoned money from a water company she chaired.
Chief justice Raymond Zondo, in one of the instalments of his state capture reports, recommended the National Prosecuting Authority (NPA) consider charging Myeni with fraud and corruption. Fraud for her mismanagement of SAA; corruption based on the evidence of “Mr X” about her alleged involvement “in the scheme to secure millions of rand for the personal benefit of Ms Myeni and the Jacob Zuma Foundation”.
She is part of the gang that captured SA out of greed, bringing our economy to its knees. The media ... will continue to expose their wicked ways, unmoved by any attempts at intimidation.
It was at Zuma’s court matter where she grabbed our photographer Sandile Ndlovu’s camera, pulled at his bag and lashed out at him. He was in a public space and perfectly entitled to take snaps of Myeni chatting away with Carl Niehaus — who lied about his mother’s death to dodge debt collectors, and who is himself facing charges for breaking Covid-19 lockdown regulations.
Ndlovu said Myeni tried to hit him but missed. “When I entered court, she again confronted me, asking: ‘Sandile, why are taking my photograph? You don’t do this to whites, but you are doing this to a black woman.’ I tried to engage her, but she told me not to give her an answer and literally told me to shut up,” he said afterwards.
Myeni, who has also been declared a delinquent director for life for her shenanigans at SAA, was at court to support Zuma, whose arms deal-related corruption trial was supposed to have finally started. But it was postponed again, this time pending the outcome of an appeal aimed at having state prosecutor Billy Downer removed, undoubtedly another tactic to delay prosecution.
This is the company Myeni keeps. She is part of the gang that captured SA out of greed, bringing our economy to its knees. The media, including photographers such as Ndlovu, are part of the gang that uncovered this. Myeni and her mates should know that journalists will continue to expose their wicked ways, unmoved by any attempts at intimidation.
