The High Court in Pretoria has dismissed another appeal application by former SAA chairperson Dudu Myeni in her delinquency case.
This comes a day after the same court dismissed her application for leave to appeal a December ruling stating that Organisation Undoing Tax Abuse has standing to bring a delinquency case against her. Myeni led the national flag carrier's board between December 2012 and October 2017.
The case to have her declared a delinquent director has been hobbled by a series of delays, mainly on Myeni’s part, ranging from unexpected change of legal representatives to attempts to change her plea. Earlier in the week Advocate Carol Steinberg, for Outa, urged the court to allow the case to begin, saying there were “no grounds to delay these trial proceedings any further".
Myeni's legal team had applied for condonation of a late application to appeal an earlier ruling that rejected her bid to amend her plea. In early December, the same court had ruled that Myeni could not change her previous admissions in the case, and could not have other previous SAA directors added to her case.
In her ruling on Wednesday, Judge Ronel Tolmay stated that the application was filed out of time, and ordered Myeni to pay the cost for Outa's counsel. The cost is taxable and payable within 30 days, according to the order.
If Myeni is declared a delinquent director, she will not be able to serve on any boards for several years, according to the Companies Act.
- Additional reporting by Jan Cronje