Boni Dibate, chief executive of South African Express Airways (SA Express), will be demoted two levels and moved elsewhere in Transnet, a disciplinary committee decided after hearing eight charges of fraud against her.
After months of investigations and hearings, Transnet announced Dibate’s fate this week and said South African Airways would help find a new CEO for SA Express by July.
“The Boni Dibate issue has been resolved in an amicable way. She has been found guilty of all eight charges and will be transferred as an assistant general manager. It is a demotion,” said Tami Didiza, Transnet’s spokesperson.
Insiders who did not want to be named are upset by what they perceive to be a slap on the wrist. They said the transfer was not a demotion and that she would still occupy a senior manager’s position at her current salary.
The hearings began last October after officials, including Transnet Group CEO Mafika Mkwanazi, heard from a whistleblower that while manager of Esselen Park, Transnet’s training and research facility near Kempton Park outside Johannesburg, Dibate had authorised overseas trips for an employee and his family on the company tab and had accepted money from a service supplier to pay off personal debts.
Dibate appealed against the outcome of the first disciplinary hearing after she was found guilty of fraud. The chairperson reportedly recommended that she be dismissed immediately from her position as CEO of SA Express. The second disciplinary committee also found her guilty of all the charges.
Dibate was found guilty of authorising discounted trips for her daughter and the family of Mandla Msimang without permission. Msimang worked under Dibate as portfolio manager of business development at Esselen Park. She also allowed Msimang to formulate business strategies for the airline as an outside consultant. Dibate allegedly paid him extravagantly for his work and was accused of receiving a share of the proceeds.
Dibate authorised Msimang to stay at the exclusive Beacon Island Resort in Plettenberg Bay with his family at company expense.
Msimang’s wife received a large discount on an overseas trip after Dibate arranged for her to pay only 10% of the cost. Dibate also authorised discounts and sponsorships for Msimang’s children and a loan of R55 342 to pay off debt his son incurred on an overseas trip.
Before the hearings began, Dibate wrote a letter last September to Bongani Khumalo, chairperson of Transnet’s board of directors, pleading for the charges to be dropped. She said she had discussed the issues with officials, including her boss Mkwanazi, and that she had thought the matter had been resolved.
An insider says Dibate is now believed to be angling for a similar senior position at SAA.
Dibate, the first female CEO in the history of a South African airline, is also president of the Businesswomen’s Association and a director of Primedia.