A former South African Airways (SA, Johannesburg O.R. Tambo) non-executive board member appeared briefly in a South African court on March 18 in connection with multiple extortion and taxi violence cases.
Yakhe Kwinana faces charges of malicious damage to property and pointing a firearm after she was arrested in Midrand near Johannesburg on March 17. A national task team created to tackle extortion-related crimes led the operation that resulted in her arrest, The Citizen newspaper and Independent Online (IOL) reported.
It is alleged that Kwinana, accompanied by armed men, extorted money from victims and ordered the demolition of their properties in East London in South Africa's Eastern Cape province.
Following her appearance at the Randburg Magistrate's Court in Gauteng, her case was forwarded to the Eastern Cape, where she is set to reappear on March 24.
Meanwhile, on March 12, the South African High Court, Gauteng Division in Pretoria, dismissed Kwinana's application to review a decision by the South African Institute of Chartered Accountants a year earlier to strike her from the role of chartered accountants. Following a disciplinary hearing, the professional body had found her unfit for the profession and fined her ZAR6.1 million rands (USD335,000) after finding her guilty on 13 charges of professional misconduct.
The professional charges against Kwinana followed a referral from South Africa's Zondo Commission of Inquiry into Allegations of State Capture. She appeared before the commission in November 2020 to account for financial irregularities during her tenure as a non-executive board member of SAA between 2009 and 2016. During this time, she also served as chairperson of South African Airways Technical (SAAT), the airline's maintenance division, and the SAA audit and risk committee.
In November 2024, Kwinana was released on ZAR20,000 (USD1,100) bail after she was accused of fraud in connection with her dealings at SAA. She faces charges for failing to disclose her past contractual relationships with PwC and Nkonki Incorporated, which were awarded a ZAR59 million (USD3.2 million) auditing tender for SAA in the 2011/12 financial year. As chair of SAA's audit committee, she allegedly violated fiduciary duties by not informing the board or auditors about her previous ties to these entities.
