Myeni’s adviser had a key role in R49m fee paid by SAA

THE central role of former South African Airways board chairperson Dudu Myeni’s personal adviser Masotsha Mngadi in the controversial R49 million cancellation fee which the national carrier was forced to fork out when it cancelled its 2016 contract with BNP Capital was revealed at the Zondo commission yesterday.

BNP Capital director Daniel Mahlangu was testifying before the commission where he detailed how Mngadi approached his company and asked that it joins forces with him to clinch the contract of being transactional adviser to SAA for the sourcing of R15 billion for debt consolidation.

Mahlangu demanded a R49m cancellation fee from SAA when it aborted the contract following controversies around it, including revelations that BNP Capital had failed to disclose the suspension of its licence by the financial services board.

In the letter to SAA, Mahlangu had indicated that Grissag, which would be the source of the R15bn for the airline and which had flown its directors around the world to secure the funds, was going to cover incurred costs with the fee.

The commission has previously been told by former SAA chief financial officer Phumeza Nhantsi on how she was used to conclude dubious contracts and how Myeni insisted that she work with Mngadi in concluding the debt consolidation tender.

Yesterday, Mahlangu said that he authorised and signed off communication with SAA and Mngadi drafted many of the letters, including the demands for the cancellation fee.

“Mr Mngadi is the one that had an interaction with Grissag so in our understanding with him, it was that he understands what Grissag’s needs are because that is the function that he was actually dealing with.

“He would send us a discussion that he had with Grissag and said Grissag wants this and we would follow that,” Mahlangu said.

Grissag director Pieter Van der Merwe has, however, told the commission that Mahlangu had misled the airline in his letter regarding the cancellation fee, as his company never demanded the fee.

Mahlangu accused Mngadi of misleading BNP Capital regarding the demands of Grissag.

“From where we were sitting we thought this is what Grissag wants because he introduced them.

“You can see even in the correspondence that Van der Merwe was directly communicating with Mngadi so we had no doubt that this information comes out of Grissag,” he said.

Earlier yesterday, Mahlangu detailed how Mngadi had approached BNP Capital and convinced it to partner with his Inline Trading company to secure the deal.

“Before we could even meet, he had already forwarded an RFI which I have asked the guys at the office to look at and see what it required.

“He gave us an overview of the opportunity and his experience as far as SAA is concerned,” Mahlangu told the hearing.