South African Airways (SAA) chairwoman Dudu Myeni had acted in defiance of an agreement with Finance Minister Nhlanhla Nene when‚ on at least two occasions in the past few months‚ she removed and appointed SAA chief executives without his prior approval.An agreement – contained in the shareholder compact‚ which was redrafted early this year – specifies that the board may not hire‚ fire or suspend executive directors without prior approval of the finance minister.
The objective of the redrafted compact was to stabilise top management – a key objective of SAA’s turnaround strategy.
But‚ since then‚ instability at the top had continued and Myeni had made‚ at least‚ the last two appointments without approval‚ said SAA executives.
Last week‚ she appointed SAA head of technical, Musa Zwane, as the third acting chief executive this year. Before that‚ she appointed general manager for human resources Thuli Mpshe to run the airline‚ to the surprise of the Treasury. Before that‚ Mango chief executive Nico Bezuidenhout was the acting CEO.
Myeni initially resisted signing the new shareholder compact‚ but was compelled to do so by the Treasury.
In addition to the movements in and out of the chief executive’s office‚ three other top executives and one non-executive director have resigned or been suspended in the past six months.
Chief financial officer Wolf Meyer resigned last week after a continuing conflict with Myeni; chief commercial officer Sylvain Bosc has been suspended; chief strategy officer Barry Parsons quit in July; and non-executive director Tony Dixon resigned last month.
Bosc – a French national with extensive airline experience – was placed on special leave some weeks ago.
On Friday‚ SAA issued a statement saying Bosc had been suspended and informed other employees by e-mail.
Later in the day‚ parts of this statement were retracted after a complaint from Bosc’s lawyers. SAA then clarified that it had not yet found Bosc guilty or formally charged him.
The airline said the claim against him related to losses on the Abu Dhabi route‚ which did not prove as successful as expected. It claimed Bosc gave the board incorrect information in this regard.
SAA spokesman Tlali Tlali said yesterday he was unable to get a comment from the board.
Last week‚ Deputy Finance Minister Mcebisi Jonas defended Myeni, saying no laws had been broken. If laws had been broken‚ “Treasury would act”.
Jonas said the process to appoint a new board was well under way. — BDLive
SAA’s turbulent times under Myeni
An agreement – contained in the shareholder compact‚ which was redrafted early this year – specifies that the board may not hire‚ fire or suspend executive directors without prior approval of the finance minister.
The objective of the redrafted compact was to stabilise top management – a key objective of SAA’s turnaround strategy.
But‚ since then‚ instability at the top had continued and Myeni had made‚ at least‚ the last two appointments without approval‚ said SAA executives.
Last week‚ she appointed SAA head of technical, Musa Zwane, as the third acting chief executive this year. Before that‚ she appointed general manager for human resources Thuli Mpshe to run the airline‚ to the surprise of the Treasury. Before that‚ Mango chief executive Nico Bezuidenhout was the acting CEO.
Myeni initially resisted signing the new shareholder compact‚ but was compelled to do so by the Treasury.
In addition to the movements in and out of the chief executive’s office‚ three other top executives and one non-executive director have resigned or been suspended in the past six months.
Chief financial officer Wolf Meyer resigned last week after a continuing conflict with Myeni; chief commercial officer Sylvain Bosc has been suspended; chief strategy officer Barry Parsons quit in July; and non-executive director Tony Dixon resigned last month.
Bosc – a French national with extensive airline experience – was placed on special leave some weeks ago.
On Friday‚ SAA issued a statement saying Bosc had been suspended and informed other employees by e-mail.
Later in the day‚ parts of this statement were retracted after a complaint from Bosc’s lawyers. SAA then clarified that it had not yet found Bosc guilty or formally charged him.
The airline said the claim against him related to losses on the Abu Dhabi route‚ which did not prove as successful as expected. It claimed Bosc gave the board incorrect information in this regard.
SAA spokesman Tlali Tlali said yesterday he was unable to get a comment from the board.
Last week‚ Deputy Finance Minister Mcebisi Jonas defended Myeni, saying no laws had been broken. If laws had been broken‚ “Treasury would act”.
Jonas said the process to appoint a new board was well under way. — BDLive
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