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Pretoria - Manipulated figures, travel agents banned from premises and shredded strategic documents.
These were all part of the life of a former chief executive of South African Airways, who on Tuesday had to explain the airline's incentive schemes dating back to 1999 to the Competition Tribunal.
André Viljoen, the former chief executive of the national airline, had previously given evidence about SAA's transgressions in the Nationwide hearing, in which SAA had
been fined R45m.
He appeared again on Tuesday after being summoned by the Tribunal to give evidence in the Comair hearing. This hearing began last year after SAA and the commission came to a settlement over the Comair charges, and SAA had paid a fine of R15m. SAA did not, however, admit in the settlement that it had violated competition law, as in the case of Nationwide.
Comair applied for a guilty verdict against SAA, which would allow it, Comair, like Nationwide, to claim damages from the national airline.
Viljoen testified that, inter alia, his predecessor Coleman Andrews had shredded various strategic documents compiled at great expense by an international company.
Documents from Viljoen's period as chief executive were untraceable and Comair wanted to know their whereabouts.
Viljoen indicated Tourvest by name, and testified that he had even banned a representative of that agency from SAA's premises forever.
He claimed that Tourvest had manipulated its figures to receive "super-incentives".
The agreement that SAA had with the country's major travel agencies had incentivised them to book SAA flights rather than those of its competitors like Comair and Nationwide.
These competitors claimed that this had cost them market share.
David Unterhalter, counsel for Comair, wanted to know from Viljoen where the allegations of fraud (against Tourvest) appeared in his testimony.
Viljoen denied having accused the agency of fraud. He had merely referred to the agency's "manipulative habits".
- Sake24.com
For more business news in Afrikaans, go to Sake24.com.