Johannesburg - Former SAA board chairperson Dudu Myeni has dismissed allegations that she was instrumental in the cancellation of the new Emirates/SAA deal which was reportedly likely to give the national airliner an estimated profit of R1.5 billion.

Myeni made her denial during her maiden appearance in the North Gauteng High Court in Pretoria on Thursday to answer to the allegations that she botched the deal.

Myeni’s accusers - mostly former senior executives of SAA including acting CEO Nico Bezuidenhout - alleged that she phoned him and told him not to to sign the deal in Paris.

Evidence heard stated that Myeni said the instructions not to sign the deal came from former president Jacob Zuma.

In her reply, Myeni said: “I do not accept the allegations. It is baseless and it is not true. It is not true. The allegations are even prized into billions of rand. It is absolutely not true,” Myeni said.