SAA is in financial crisis and has been torn apart by boardroom battles for two years. Brown, who is new in her portfolio, has tried to "stabilise" the airline by replacing most of the board and ordering the new board to lift the suspension of Kalawe.
But yesterday, despite an optimistic statement from Brown after her meeting with the board on Monday, the actual situation at the airline was difficult to determine.
There was no clarity on whether Kalawe was still suspended and the airline was not willing to say why he was not at work.
The drama began three weeks ago when Brown removed six board members who had been at loggerheads with chair Dudu Myeni, entrusting her to oversee the airline.
One of Myeni's first acts after her reappointment as chair was to suspend Kalawe, with whom she has been at loggerheads since his appointment 18 months ago. No reasons were provided for Kalawe's suspension.
Brown then ordered Myeni to reinstate Kalawe in the interests of stability. Last Thursday Myeni wrote to Brown saying that she had lifted the suspension of Kalawe. At Monday's shareholder meeting with Brown this move was again confirmed.
In a statement yesterday afternoon Brown said: "The board confirmed what it had reported in writing to me last week: that it had lifted the suspension of CEO Monwabisi Kalawe retrospectively."
But Mushtaq Parker, Kalawe's legal representative, who has been in regular contact with SAA's lawyers and as recently as yesterday afternoon, said the suspension had not been lifted.
"If that is what the board told the minister then it is a blatant lie. The suspension was never lifted. Kalawe has had his gate (access) and e-mail blocked more than once and has been told to return his laptop, which I will deliver to SAA's lawyers tomorrow. There is no suggestion that the suspension is lifted. This is just another indication of how deceitful this board is," he said.
Parker said a claim last week by SAA representatives that Kalawe was on "special leave" was another blatant lie. "He was offered special leave. He never took it."
Brown's statement contains an enigmatic paragraph that hints that despite the agreement over the lifted suspension, she is aware that all is not well at SAA.
It says after the board's lifting of the suspension "there are several consequential procedural matters that are being dealt with between the board and the CEO and it will be inappropriate for me to comment until these have been concluded".
Her spokesperson, Colin Cruywagen, said he could not explain what was meant or whether Kalawe was back at work. He referred inquiries to SAA.
The airline's spokesperson Tlali Tlali and Myeni did not respond to questions about Kalawe's status, other than to say Nico Bezuidenhout "was acting CE for the airline during Kalawe's absence" and that Kalawe was "on leave".
Source: Business Day, via I-Net Bridge
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