E-mails reveal Gupta man on SAA board

An Indian molecular biologist‚ Dr Rajesh Naithani‚ who served on the boards of SAA and South African Express‚ spent his tenure at SAA updating Tony Gupta on happenings at the beleaguered airline‚ leaked e-mails suggest. TimesLIVE says it has seen e-mails sent by Naithani‚ who has served on the board of SA Express since mid-2015 and who remains there‚ to Sahara CEO Ashu Chawla for the attention of Tony Gupta. Naithani‚ who flies into SA from India for board meetings‚ even informed the Guptas about his interactions with SAA chair Dudu Myeni‚ the e-mails show. The Sunday Times on Sunday reported how Naithani asked for help from Tony Gupta‚ via Chawla‚ when he was removed from the SAA board in October 2014. He asked to be moved to Transnet‚ but was instead appointed by Public Enterprises Minister Lynne Brown to the board of South African Express in May 2015. Explaining his appointment at the time‚ former Public Enterprises Minister Malusi Gigaba’s spokesperson Mayihlome Tshwete said Naithani had come highly recommended.