Former SAA board member Yakhe Kwinana has been granted R20,000 bail and was ordered to submit her travelling documents to the investigating officer in her fraud matter.
Kwinana was arrested on Tuesday morning and appeared in the Palm Ridge magistrate’s court. She is facing a charge of fraud, a schedule 5 offence.
It is alleged Kwinana failed to disclose to PwC, Nkonki Incorporated or the board of directors and the audit committee of SAA that Kwinana and Associates, of which she was the sole director, had previous contractual relationships with PwC and Nkonki.
The state said that had she disclosed the relationship, PwC and Nkonki would have not been awarded a tender by SAA to audit its financials for 2011/2012.
In her bail application, Kwinana proposed bail of R5,000, but the state proposed R20,000. “I provide family support to my mother and my children. My release will not disrupt public order. I will not contact any state witness,” she said.
She said the only money she gets is from her pension. “I have no means of income.”
Prosecutor Frans Mhlongo argued bail should reflect the seriousness of the offence. The state said the reason it did not oppose bail was because she had been co-operating. “She handed herself over to the police. She has no criminal records issued against her,” Mhlongo said.
The matter has been postponed to December 10 for docket disclosure.
Kwinana appeared in court in her capacity as chairperson of the audit committee of SAA and a member of its accounting authority, as she allegedly failed to fully comply with the fiduciary duties imposed by the provisions of the Public Finance Management Act.
She appeared in court for her conduct during her tenure at the crisis-hit airline.
When the two firms were appointed by the state-owned airline to a four-year, multimillion-rand auditing contract, Kwinana was chair of the SAA board’s audit and risk subcommittee.
The Sunday Times reported that a source with knowledge of the matter confirmed the Hawks serious crime offences unit had been engaging with Kwinana and had secured a warning statement from her in the past two months on her time as a board member of the airline.
There was also an agreement that Kwinana would not be arrested but would hand herself over at a police station and be transported to court where she would be informed of her charges and be able to apply for bail, a source close to the matter said.
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