State capture: Bosasa furnished prison boss Linda Mti's house

22 January 2019 - 13:47 By Amil Umraw
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Angelo Agrizzi testified that Bosasa footed the bill for lavish houses built for former prisons boss Linda Mti and correctional services chief officer Patrick Gillingham. Agrizze said Bosasa 'underhandedly' landed a R486mn contract for fencing at about 66 prisons in 2005, while Mti was commissioner.
Angelo Agrizzi testified that Bosasa footed the bill for lavish houses built for former prisons boss Linda Mti and correctional services chief officer Patrick Gillingham. Agrizze said Bosasa 'underhandedly' landed a R486mn contract for fencing at about 66 prisons in 2005, while Mti was commissioner.
Image: Alon Skuy

Former Bosasa executive Angelo Agrizzi has detailed how the company bribed senior officials from the department of correctional services (DCS) to secure lucrative contracts at prisons across the country.

Testifying at the state capture inquiry on Tuesday, Agrizzi said Bosasa allegedly oversaw the construction and footed the bill for lavish houses built for former prisons boss Linda Mti and DCS chief officer Patrick Gillingham.

Bosasa underhandedly landed a massive R486m contract for fencing at about 66 prisons in 2005, while Mti was commissioner at DCS. He said he met Mti in 2007 after Mti resigned from the position.

"I went with Gavin Watson (Bosasa’s CEO) to Mti’s house in Savannah Hills Estate. We sat outside waiting because he had gone on a morning walk. I was also informed that all the furnishing in the house had been done by Bosasa," Agrizzi said.

"When the SIU report broke, I was only then informed about the scheme that happened. I suspected there was bribing but I didn’t have a clue on who organised it and how it had been done."

The report by the Special Investigating Unit (SIU) in 2008 found that Bosasa had bribed Mti, Gillingham and other departmental officials. It was handed to the National Prosecuting Authority in 2009 but no criminal prosecution has followed.

Agrizzi also alleged that Mti was paid at least R65,000 a month since he resigned from DCS. Agrizzi told the commission he was personally aware of between 25 and 30 payments made to Mti between 2006 and 2016, when he resigned from Bosasa.

He said Bosasa also paid Mti's travel costs, arranged holidays for him and his family, arranged flights and paid for his children's education.


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