- Ex-SAA board member Yakhe Kwinana's appearance at the commission on a Saturday followed delays that placed the inquiry under pressure to complete its work.
- Questioned on the reasons for rejecting a bid for tender by Air France, Kwinana said Air France's BEE compliance and supplier development commitments were not satisfactory.
- Asked what she understood by supplier development, Kwinana suggested perhaps she should Google it.
Air France – despite being management's preferred bidder – was ultimately rejected for tender due to its lack of commitment to supplier development, former South African Airways board member and chair of SAA Technical Yakhe Kwinana told the Zondo commission into state capture on Saturday.
The company had been bidding alongside JM Aviation, owned by Vuyo Ndzeku, with whom Kwinana had been communicating. Earlier in the week, evidence leader Kate Hofmeyr had probed Kwinana on why she had been communicating with the bidders that were ultimately awarded the R1.2-billion contract with SAAT to supply aircraft components in 2016.
Kwinana's appearance at the commission on a Saturday followed delays that placed the inquiry under pressure to complete its work.
Questioned on why Air France – which had been the supplier that management recommended to the board – had not been awarded the tender, Kwinana said Air France's BEE compliance and supplier development commitments were not satisfactory.
When challenged on the distinction between BEE compliance and supplier development, Kwinana focused on the latter.
Hofmeyr pressed Kwinana on what she understood by supplier development. After a pause, Kwinana suggested that perhaps she should "use Google".
'We talked about many things'
After some reassurance from Deputy Chief Justice Raymond Zondo that it was her own understanding of the matter that was most relevant, Kwinana stated that a supplier should be able to develop another upcoming supplier. She did not elaborate in detail on the differences in commitment to supplier development between the key bidders, but said Air France "had resistance" to the idea.
Hofmeyr put it to her that the process for this particular tender, as she understood it, specified that suppliers must give their commitments to supplier development and submit their proposals. However, Air France's competitors, American company AAR Corporation and its local partner JM Aviation JM Aviation, only submitted theirs after the awarding of the tender.
"I, in fairness, found that a bit striking," said Hofmeyr.
Hofmeyr argued that even if it were the case, as previously stated by SAAT's former head of procurement Nontasa Memela, that the suppliers only needed to give their commitments to supplier development at the bidding stage, Air France was in the same position as its competitors.
Kwinana appeared hesitant to comment.
"I am not sure as I am sitting here whether Air France had committed to supplier development," she said.
Probed by Hofmeyr on how, then, Air France's bid could have been rejected primarily on the basis of concerns over supplier development compared to its competitors, Kwinana said there were "many things that we talked about" that resulted in the rejection of Air France.
She did not, at that stage, elaborate.
The inquiry continues.