I was fired for standing up to corruption, says former SAA employee
The former head of financial risk at South African Airways, Cynthia Stimpel, says she was suspended from the state-owned entity for objecting to what could potentially have been corruption.
Stimpel was part of a process to obtain a R15 billion loan in 2015 for the cash-strapped airline.
While the company normally confined such an agreement to banking entities, the board wanted to widen it.
But Stimpel told the commission of inquiry into state capture on Friday that it was against normal procedure and would have been expensive for the company.
She said the board, under former chairperson Dudu Myeni, approved a proposal by the Free State Development Corporation which according to National Treasury was not mandated to fund SOE's but projects in the Free State.
When this did not work out, SAA sought to hire a transaction advisor, who she says was unnecessary as the company already had the expertise that could source the funding.
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Stimpel eventually decided enough was enough and decided to expose this to Treasury and the Organisation Undoing Tax Abuse.
"I was concerned by the approach we took to get the funding, we diverted from our traditional ways of going to the bank. We added names and brought in a transaction advisor and changed its scope to widen it to source funds and the final fee was a phenomenal amount of R225 million and the fact that the Treasury was not involved in this made me uncomfortable and made me feel that I needed to do something about it.”
The R225 million was to be paid to BNP Capital.
She said a colleague advised her not to report this matter internally, as she would immediately be dismissed by the board.
"What was transpiring at SAA at the time, if anyone challenged directives from the board or other executives knowing they were incorrect, you would be immediately suspended, your charges would not be given to you at that time and would be made up later. It was a method and when I was suspended there at least four others who were suspended as well, it seemed to have been a pattern.”
The media was told Stimpel was suspended for misconduct and sharing confidential documents, something she objected to. After trying to fight SAA at the CCMA, she eventually decided to settle.