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Dudu Myeni plans to plead guilty to obstructing justice after naming State Capture witness Mr X

Dudu Myeni plans to plead guilty to obstructing justice after naming State Capture witness Mr X
Dudu Myeni arrive to testify in SAA delinquency case at the Pretoria High Court on February 20, 2020 in Pretoria, South Africa. The Organisation Undoing Tax Abuse (Outa) and the SA Pilots Association want Dudu Myeni to be declared a delinquent director. She is accused of mismanagement during her six years as chairperson. (Photo by Gallo Images/Phill Magakoe)
Vincent Cruywagen
By Vincent Cruywagen
14 Jun 2022
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The Johannesburg Magistrates’ Court was ready to deal with the matter of the delinquent director’s arrest warrant over her previous failure to appear – then things took a dramatic turn.

Former SAA chairperson Dudu Myeni will plead guilty to revealing the identity of a protected witness during her testimony at the Zondo State Capture Commission in November 2020.

Myeni was charged with obstructing the administration of justice after she revealed the identity of the witness known as Mr X at the commission in November 2020, despite a strict order from commission chairperson Justice Raymond Zondo that the name be withheld.

Mr X had implicated her in allegedly dodgy deals involving the Mhlathuze Water Board and a housing contract from the Mpumalanga government.

A warrant of arrest was issued last month after she failed to show up at court, where her lawyer, Nqabayethu Buthelezi, said his client’s absence was owing to health concerns.   

But the case took a dramatic turn when Myeni appeared briefly in the Johannesburg Magistrates’ Court on Tuesday.

National Prosecuting Authority (NPA) Gauteng spokesperson Phindi Mjonondwane told Daily Maverick that Myeni would be entering a plea and sentence agreement.

“The matter has been postponed to 27 July to conclude the 105A negotiations to negotiate and enter into an agreement with the accused. We will consult with the complainant and bring the investigating officer aboard in the negotiations. We hope to conclude the agreement before the next appearance and file it in court,” Mjonondwane said.

The NPA further indicated that no prescribed minimum sentence exists for the crime Myeni is alleged to have committed, and she may get away with a fine or suspended sentence.

After being investigated for prosecution over her role in State Capture at SAA, where she was a director and later chairperson, Myeni has emerged as a critical participant in State Capture.

Dudu Myeni arrives to testify in her SAA delinquency case at the Pretoria High Court on 20 February 2020. (Photo: Gallo Images / Phill Magakoe)



The State Capture Commission’s report – the first part of which was released in January 2022 – paints Myeni, a personal friend of former president Jacob Zuma, as meddling, paranoid, incompetent, prone to intimidating board members and staff, and as having acted with “corrupt intent” throughout her time at the national carrier.

Myeni’s next battle is to challenge the declaration that she is a delinquent director for life. Her appeals have been rejected by three judges who upheld the argument by counsel for the Organisation Undoing Tax Abuse (Outa) and the SAA Pilots’ Association (Saapa).

Outa and Saapa filed the original application in 2017 to declare Myeni a delinquent director due to her disastrous reign as SAA chairperson.

In May 2020, the high court declared Myeni a delinquent director and banned her for life from holding any directorship position. She was further ordered to abandon all her directorships, including her roles as SAA chairperson, executive chairperson of the Jacob Zuma Foundation and deputy chairperson of Free State electricity distribution company Centlec. In April 2021, the Supreme Court of Appeal dismissed one of her two appeals against the delinquent-for-life ruling.

Myeni will be back in court on 27 July 2022. DM

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