RIGHT OF REPLY: SAA acting CEO Matshela Seshibe responds: Daybreak not linked to suspension

SAA acting CEO Matshela Seshibe – currently on special leave – reached out to Daily Maverick to correct the public record of his tenure as CEO of Daybreak Foods. As it turns out, the recent revelations were just coincidentally released on the same day as his suspension.

On 14 August 2026, the SAA Board placed Acting Group CEO Matshela Seshibe on immediate special leave pending an internal review to safeguard the interests of SAA and uphold governance standards.

This sudden suspension coincided with a formal request by the Democratic Alliance to President Cyril Ramaphosa for a Special Investigating Unit (SIU) probe into the collapse of Daybreak Foods, backed by leaked forensic findings.

On 20 August 2026, Seshibe issued a formal response to Daily Maverick to clear his name on the Daybreak front, and we have also obtained a copy of the report to check it against.

Among the litany of Daybreak Foods’ problematic payments during Seshibe’s tenure is the R7.3-million invoice in May 2022 for a company rebranding. While marketing agency Blue Apple Tree usually charged Daybreak an hourly rate of R1,800 for its services, that rate was slashed to R800 for brand specialist billables.

Seshibe asserts that Blue Apple Tree was an external brand consultancy whose relationship with Daybreak was established well before his arrival as CEO on 30 May 2022.

The Fundudzi report – which is the result of Seshibe’s commissioned investigation – records engagements with former Daybreak spokesperson Cedric Mamabolo’s firm dating back to August 2020, involving the Daybreak board and company secretary rather than Seshibe himself.

The 2022 Integrated Brand Marketing Communications appointment letter was signed on 20 April 2022 by then acting CEO Jack Nkogatse, with CFO Vangile Masisi signing on 25 April, and legal manager Busisiwe Nyatsumba also signing as a signatory. The six-month engagement ran from 21 April 2022 to 22 October 2022.

It was only the invoice that was submitted and paid after Seshibe got his feet under the desk.

“I did not sign off on any payments to Blue Apple Tree during the approximately five months that I served as CEO.”

He pointed Daily Maverick to Fundudzi’s paragraph 5.6.2.19, which records that CFO Masisi confirmed she was responsible for approving payments to Blue Apple Tree, while company secretary Kgabo Mapotse confirmed that Blue Apple Tree had rendered the services billed.

A parallel PIC-led audit by Nexus Forensic Services (cited in Daybreak’s Business Rescue Plan) found that Blue Apple Tree actually received more than R36-million for services that were unjustified or never rendered.

Nexus concluded that company secretary Mapotse and Blue Apple Tree owner Mamabolo had colluded to defraud Daybreak. Mapotse allegedly used a forged electronic signature of board chairperson Lerato Nage to approve invoices. Nexus recommended criminal charges under the Prevention and Combating of Corrupt Activities Act.

Ironically, these revelations come in the week leading up to a Springboks vs All Blacks Test at Ellis Park, which was the scene of an infamous R890,000 hospitality soiree – that came with a branded party bus – in August 2022.