When Daily Maverick asked SAA whether Matshela Seshibeâs special leave was a reaction to the DAâs revelations in the ongoing Daybreak Foods saga â which implicated the airlineâs former acting CEO â the national carrier was quick with the comment:

âNo, itâs not true. This is pure speculation. And SAA is handling the matter internally and is sticking to and standing by [the] statement issued on the matter.â

The timing is very coincidental.

According to the leaked Fundudzi Forensic Services report obtained by the Democratic Alliance, Daybreak Foods paid R26.8-million to Blue Apple Tree Brand Consultancy and Design for âIntegrated Brand Marketing Communicationsâ. This expenditure occurred despite there being no approved budget and no agreed contract amount.

The bulk of this money was paid across four highly questionable invoices billed between May and August 2022, immediately following Matshela Seshibeâs appointment as Daybreak CEO in May 2022:

May 2022: R7.3mServices billed:Identity Manual Brand Strategy Development, Brand Refinement, Brand Guideline Booklet, and three websites.June 2022: R5.4mServices billed:An âActing CEOâs luncheonâ, a âSchool Hand Overâ, âCorporate Branded Promotional Itemsâ for 80 people, and 3,500 copies of a newsletter magazine.July 2022: R4.8mServices billed:R1,500,000 for 3,500 copies of the June newsletter magazine. A zero-cost line item for âCEO Corporate Imagesâ (including photography, interviewing, videography and story writing). R2,094,000 for âCEO Induction Eventsâ at several operational sites â including the Head Office, Delmas Abattoirs, Sundra Abattoirs, Kinross Feedmill, Breeders & Hatchery Division Bela Bela, and Delmas Farmers/Vet (featuring photography, videography, drone videography and video editing for each venue). R726,000 for branded corporate wear and promotional items for just 50 people (equivalent to R14,520 per person).August 2022: R4.9mServices billed:R1,500,000 for 3,500 copies of the August newsletter magazine. R890,000 for âRugby Game Hospitalityâ, which included âBoard and CEO Transportâ, a âBranded Party Busâ, a corporate suite with catering, rugby T-shirts, branded flags, party bus refreshments and photography. R1,800,000 for head office signage. R349,000 for âEvent Coverage â Mandela Dayâ at Bela-Bela and Delmas (including photography, videography, drone videography and video editing).

Anatomy of a fraud

Fundudzi found that Blue Apple Tree charged a flat rate of R1,800 per hour per resource. However, the approved contract rate of R1,800 was meant to be a combined rate split across four resources (with the brand specialist component capped at R800 per hour).

The report concluded that Blue Apple Tree had inflated its invoices by R12.87-million (including VAT) and recommended that this sum be recovered from the provider.

When these invoices were first submitted, Daybreakâs Chief Financial Officer flagged them. She requested proof of work, noting that she struggled to establish whether any services had actually been rendered. Instead of providing proof, Blue Apple Tree referred her to the Company Secretary, Kgabo Mapotse, claiming the board was already comfortable with the work.

Incomplete investigation

The forensic report records that the investigation remained incomplete because then-CEO Seshibe instructed investigators in December 2022 to suspend aspects of their probe.

Following Seshibe's departure and suspension, investigators were briefly allowed to resume their work, but were subsequently instructed by Daybreak director Richard Manzini to finalise and close the report without completing the outstanding investigative loops.

The revelation of the Fundudzi report makes SAAâs April 2026 due diligence look incredibly compromised. The SAA board had publicly assured South Africans that the historic allegations against Seshibe were fabricated.

However, the leaked forensic files paint a picture that the Group CEO they had appointed to lead SAAâs multibillion-rand turnaround had allegedly shut down a corruption probe into R12-million of inflated invoices, including vanity drone videos celebrating his own CEO induction.

If you were into conspiracy theories, by preemptively suspending Seshibe on 14 August, Sedzani Mudauâs board successfully avoided being blindsided on 17 August, allowing them to frame the suspension as a âdecisiveâ move in support of âintegrity and leadershipâ.

But that is just conjecture. DM