SAA’s suspended chief medical officer Nonhlanhla Sishaba has denied the allegations of misconduct levelled against her by the airline and the SA civil aviation authority and sent her employer a letter of demand seeking to be reinstated. She has also demanded the two organisations retract their media statements about her and issue a public apology.
SAA suspended Sishaba on September 10 after the civil aviation authority instructed more than 100 pilots, cabin crew, flight engineers and air traffic controllers to undergo new medical examinations, alleging she had cleared them to fly without the authority to do so.
“I categorically deny the allegations levelled against [me] by the civil aviation authority and SAA. The innuendo in the media releases is that I, through fraud, compromised public safety. This is simply not true,” said Sishaba in a statement issued on her behalf by her lawyer Emile Myburgh.
“ There has never been any reason to doubt my capability, professional ethics or my personal integrity in my 22 years in aviation medicine, including my time in service in the South African National Defence Force,” said Sishaba.
She had demanded SAA reinstate her within seven days and would seek damages for defamation, said Myburgh.
Earlier this month, the civil aviation authority said Sishaba’s status as a designated aviation medical examiner (DAME) had expired on March 31, but she had continued to conduct medical examinations and unlawfully cleared people to fly. None of the medical certificates she issued after this date were valid, according to the civil aviation authority, which directed all the affected people to undergo new medical examinations within 15 days. .
Speaking through her lawyer, Sechaba said the civil aviation authority had on two previous occasions allowed her to issue medical certificates after her DAME status had expired and approval of her renewal application was pending. In neither of those instances had it accused her of fraud, thus setting a precedent, she said.
In 2020 her DAME status expired on 31 March, but the new designation was only granted by the civil aviation authority on August 12 2020. In 2022, her designation was signed on 21 April, three weeks after the previous one expired, said Sishaba.
The civil aviation authority previously said it had not renewed Sishaba’s DAME status after March 31 because it discovered anomalies in the test results she submitted to back up previous medical certificates, which indicated some individuals with serious medical conditions had been given the green light. She initially withheld those results, and only submitted the documentation when the civil aviation requested them. She was fined R10,000 for the late submission.
SAA said it stood by its public statements in relation to its decision to place Sishaba on precautionary suspension pending the outcome of the investigation conducted against her by the civil aviation authority and SAA.
“The SACAA’s action against her conduct, which its preliminary investigations deemed so severe that it announced that all medical fitness certificates issued by her since April 2024 are invalid, is a matter of grave public interest for the aviation community and air passengers,” it said.
“In keeping with our commitment to consequence management in rooting out all unethical behaviour and our non-negotiable stance on air safety, SAA will not withdraw the media statement issued on this matter on 10 September 2024. Neither can Dr Sishaba be allowed to perform her duties while her status remains suspended by the civil aviation authority,” it said.
Gwebu said the civil aviation authority’s investigation was still under way. “We will not withdraw our statement. We have no reason to do that,” she said.
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