ANALYSIS: Ex-SAA acting chief Seshibe guilty on 4 of 6 charges as runway runs out

To the credit of the SAA board, Judge Basheer Waglay – a retired South African jurist who served as the Judge President of the labour court and labour appeal court – was probably the best available option to preside over the case between Air Chefs and its then CEO (and former SAA acting CEO) Matshela Seshibe.

According to the 56-page outcome document, which Daily Maverick has studied, Seshibe faced six disciplinary charges and was found guilty on four.

In the alleged Unauthorised Executive Salary Increases (charges one and two), Seshibe was said to have approved ad hoc salary adjustments for two executives, Gloria Maile and Zandile Mzilikazi (remember her name; it will be important later) without prior board approval.

The judge ruled that bypassing the board violated Air Chefs’ Delegation of Authority rules and resulted in irregular expenditure under the Public Finance Management Act (PFMA).

Allegation five – Exceeding Acting Allowance Caps – says that he approved an acting allowance for Mpume Spayile that bumped his pay from R70,000 to R90,000 per month (a 28.57% increase). The alleged issue is that company policy caps acting allowances at 15%.

The judge rejected Seshibe’s argument that this was a pro-rata adjustment for moving from four to five working days.

Which brings us to allegation number six – Failure to Declare Conflict of Interest – Seshibe was said to have failed to formally declare and manage a potential conflict of interest regarding his close relationship with Mzilikazi (the name from earlier).

While he argued their relationship was purely professional, the judge noted he directly drove her promotions and pay increases while exchanging private WhatsApp messages (one which read “nakumiss” – a Swahili word for “I miss you”) and personal holiday photos, which was found to have taken the relationship beyond standard workplace boundaries.

Respectful retort

With regard to the relationship between Seshibe and Mzilikazi, when you scan their LinkedIn profiles, it reveals that they probably worked together at Coca-Cola and Tiger Brands in the past.

Mzilikazi was also elevated to acting Air Chefs CEO after Seshibe was promoted to the acting group CEO position.

Waglay also acquitted Seshibe on charges that he illegally created a new manager post and secretly expanded the duties of the general manager of operations. The ruling showed that the board was in fact notified of the new role in February 2025 board minutes, and Air Chefs failed to prove the job duties were actually altered.

As documented in the outcome, Seshibe repeatedly complained that SAA and Air Chefs refused to hand over more than 70 internal documents and investigation reports (such as an external attorney’s investigation report) to help prepare his defence.

According to Waglay:

“The Labour Relations Act... and the Air Chefs Disciplinary Policy... do not envision a disciplinary process in which employees are provided with documents or information... Employers also are not required to adopt formal discovery processes when disciplining their employees.
While the investigative report might have formed the basis for the formulation of the charges... it is not relied on in the disciplinary notice... Such a report cannot be relevant where the Employer has not relied on it.”

The former CEO’s core defence throughout was that he was trying to fix long-standing pay disparities (noted as “wage harmonisation”) and fill urgent operational capability gaps at Air Chefs. Waglay acknowledged the business needs, but ruled that good intentions did not override strict statutory compliance and board oversight.

But, as Seshibe’s PR team (Gravitas + Partners) wrote to Daily Maverick in response to questions about the process outcome:

“Mr Seshibe is disappointed that the findings from Air Chefs’ internal process have been shared with members of the media before the process has concluded. Mr Seshibe respects the internal process and will continue to participate in it fully. The findings do not include corruption, fraud, theft, dishonesty, or personal financial enrichment by Mr Seshibe. They concern governance and approval processes relating to remuneration decisions, as well as the disclosure and management of a perceived conflict of interest.”

Official position

SAA corporate affairs chief Mphilo Dlamini stayed close to the original position in response to similar questions. “In August SAA announced that the former acting group CEO, Matshela Seshibe, was placed on special leave pending the finalisation of an internal process,” he wrote in an email.

“The internal process is being independently presided over by a retired Judge President of the Republic of South Africa... SAA considers it inappropriate to comment on the merits or substance of the matter prior to its final conclusion.”

It is convenient, however, that the leak occurred just after Parliament summoned the airline to the naughty step. For the first time in its post-business rescue operations, SAA was forced to stagger salary payments in September and October 2026 for pilots, specialists and management.

This situation prompted an escalation on 19 October 2026, when Dr Mmusi Maimane, chairperson of the parliamentary Standing Committee on Appropriations, issued an urgent letter to Minister of Transport Barbara Creecy.

Citing an internal whistleblower disclosure from SAA employees, the committee demanded an emergency update by 30 October 2026 covering SAA’s current financial and cash position, as well as an accounting of how the Heathrow slot proceeds were utilised, and the status of the 2025/26 audit and potential requests for state bailouts.

Dlamini clarified the situation from the airline’s perspective, confirming  that liquidity bottlenecks forced it to stagger payroll for upper-tier staff:

“Staggered salary payments DOES NOT affect non-management employees (cabin crew, ground staff) as they received their salaries on the normal pay day – 27th... Staggering of salaries affected only pilots, specialists, and management.”

He also attributed its cash constraints to external macro factors, saying that “despite the significant liquidity pressures arising from geopolitical disruptions and increased fuel costs, the airline has continued to honour its obligations to staff”.

Stating a case

In the media statement, Seshibe’s team made an interesting advocacy claim:

“Under his leadership Air Chefs became the only profitable entity within SAA... He was appointed by the SAA board to lead the Liquidity Crisis Management Committee in March [2026], and later acting group chief executive officer in April. During his tenure he led initiatives that extended SAA’s runway to end September 2026, worked with EXCO and the board to craft the new strategy and corporate plan, implemented corrective measures on staff members implicated in fraud...”

This all checks out against Auditor-General reports and parliamentary disclosures.

A separate source disclosed under condition of anonymity that on Monday, 26 October, Seshibe’s legal team submitted a proposal to SAA for a mutual separation agreement to resolve the dispute amicably.

While the timing is suspiciously close to the leaking of the internal disciplinary outcome, the asymmetry of SAA’s balance sheet gremlins and negative audit outcomes versus the allegations that Seshibe has been found guilty of is quite curious.

Seshibe maintains, quite accurately, that “the findings do not include findings of corruption, fraud, theft, dishonesty or personal financial enrichment, nor do they include any finding that he had an inappropriate or improper relationship with any subordinate”.

And he is not wrong. But SAA was unwilling to share the report into the investigation that underpins the process outcome, and both parties are silenced by the legal process. So it can’t be verified.

The fact remains that SAA has run out of financial runway and has no CEO to pilot it through this turbulence. DM