/ 22 February 2009

Fly in the ointment for Ngqula

South African Airways boss Khaya Ngqula has some explaining to do. It isn’t just his wife’s business relationship with the preferred bidder in a major SAA tender that is in question, but his own.

The Sunday Times reported this month that Nest Life Assurance managing director Vusi Sithole is a business partner of Mbali Gasa, Ngqula’s wife, the former beauty queen.

Sithole is also a member of the Servair Consortium, which is the preferred bidder for a multibillion-rand deal to supply in-flight meals for the airline’s domestic routes. Sithole and Gasa are both directors of a company called Nest Life Golf Consortium, the Sunday Times reported.

Nest Life Assurance, a separate company to the consortium, sponsored the African Open Golf Tournament to the tune of R1,2-million — thus benefiting Gasa, who owns the rights to the tournament.

Ngqula has been placed on special leave while the apparent conflict of interest is probed by audit firm KPMG. It appears, however, that the conflict is even clearer.

That money should effectively flow from someone tendering for an SAA contract to the wife of the airline’s chief executive would be serious enough, but the Mail & Guardian has evidence that Ngqula may himself be a direct beneficiary of the sponsorship.

The African Open Golf Tournament appears to be owned not just by Gasa, as hitherto suspected, but by both Gasa and Ngqula.

Husband and wife were both directors of the company that owned African Open Golf Tournament when it was formed in 2006. Sithole was also a director for a brief period.

Company records show that the 120 issued shares of the company are still owned by the Mqanda Trust, which is apparently controlled by Ngqula and Gasa.

Not only does the trust cite as its address “SAA Limited, Private Bag, OR Tambo International Airport”, but Ngcula’s celebrity lawyer, Billy Gundelfinger, inadvertently confirmed the couple’s ownership when he told the Sunday Times: “Sithole, at one stage, was a director of a company in which my client and his wife had shares but in which Sithole did not. Sithole is no longer a director of such company.”

The only company matching that description is the African Open Golf Tournament.

Records show that this vehicle began its life as a shelf-company, Moongate 160, which was bought by the trust on December 20 2006. Ngqula, Gasa and Sithole were appointed directors the same day.

The company’s name was formally changed in February 2008, just days before the inaugural African Open Golf Tournament at the Fish River Sun. The renamed company also lists SAA Limited as its address.

There are other clear conflicts. Among the golfing stars who helped to attract sponsors and crowds to the 2009 event was top Argentine golfer Angel Cabrera, the recipient of an endorsement deal worth more than R30-million from SAA. That deal was signed, the Sunday Times reported, by Ngqula himself in August 2007.

If the golf tournament benefited from the participation of Cabrera, and the Argentinian’s participation was influenced by his sponsorship deal with SAA, then it would appear that Ngqula and Gasa’s golfing company benefited from the resources of the airline.

SAA has been bailed out by government repeatedly over the years and has just been given a fresh cash injection of R1,6-billion from the national treasury.

The R3,5-billion catering contract to supply 180 000 meals a week for SAA’s domestic flights has yet to be finalised but Servair, which SAA chose as preferred bidder, is first in line. Sithole is participating in the catering bid with Servair through his partnership in the Johannesburg restaurant, catering and events group Auberge Michel.

It was at Auberge Michel that Gauteng Premier Paul Mashatile ran up his now legendary R96 000 bill in 2006.

Gundelfinger told the M&G this week that it was difficult for his client to respond to queries from the media that related to the ongoing investigation at SAA.

He said that Ngqula was in Cape Town and he had to consult him before he could respond on his behalf.

Attempts by the M&G to get a response from Sithole proved unsuccessful.