OUTA: “Dudu Myeni’s court no-show should not be tolerated”

The Organisation Undoing Tax Abuse (Outa) and SAA Pilots’ Association (SAAPA) legal teams waited for Dudu Myeni, and again, Myeni failed to appear in court for the case to declare her a delinquent director.

Dudu Myeni failed to appear in court for the second time on Tuesday

The hearing on Tuesday, started with confusion when her former lawyer -who had recently dropped Myeni- Daniel Mantsha, appeared to “represent” Myeni.

The former SAA chair, Dudu Myeni was not present and Mantsha told the court he is not “officially representing” her but was asking for a postponement on her behalf.

The presiding Judge paused court proceedings for Myeni’s former lawyer to call her

Judge Ronel Tolmay paused proceedings so that Mantsha, could call Myeni and figure out whether he was “representing her or not”, during the confusion Outa and SAAPA did not object to and waited patiently with their 54 files against Myeni.

During the break, in court proceedings, Outa’s Chief Legal Officer, Advocate Stefanie Fick suggested:

“Mantsha must either get instructions so that we can oppose his application for a postponement or leave the building.”

Myeni’s former lawyer told the court a new advocate is tasked for the case

After the break, Mantsha returned from his call and told the court that Myeni had found an advocate, who would act on a pro bono basis, but will only be available to appear on Thursday and make a formal application for a postponement.

The Judge was puzzled and probed as to why this communication hadn’t been done before court proceedings, Mantsha simply told the court that Myeni had been trying to allocate resources for this case.

Outa had to relay a message to the court of Dudu Myeni’s no-show

On Monday was the first day the case, and Myeni sent a message to the Pretoria High Court via Outa’s lawyers, stating that she couldn’t afford to get from her home in Richards Bay to the court. The judge granted Myeni one day’s grace and moved the case to Tuesday.

The hearing on Tuesday ended with Judge Ronel Tolmay allowing Myeni one day to “find a lawyer” and to file a formal application for the postponement she requests, which needs to be officiated by Wednesday.

The case has been brewing for two years and stems from an application filed by OUTA and the SAA Pilots’ Association in March 2017 to declare Myeni a delinquent director, because of her conduct during her time chairing the SAA board from December 2012 to October 2017.