Let's get one thing straight: Angelo Agrizzi is not a hero of the South African people. Since taking the stand at the commission of inquiry into state capture on Wednesday, Agrizzi has kept us on the edge of our seats, watching and listening to him sing like the proverbial canary. The first bombshell was his admission that all Bosasa contracts, which run into billions of rands, were tainted. The company had paid hundreds of millions of rands greasing the palms of senior government officials and politicians to secure those contracts.
The bribes were paid to different groups of people. People in one group were each paid monthly allowances of up to R1m. Others were bought new houses, cars and groceries; others had relatives' funerals paid for by Bosasa. Still others were showered with expensive gifts, among these being Louis Vuitton handbags, overseas holidays and Christmas groceries.
Agrizzi delivered some of these bribes himself. Bosasa, now known as African Global Group, is wholly owned by Gavin Watson, an ANC benefactor whose struggle credentials cannot be disputed. Together with his brothers, including rugby administrator Cheeky, they were among the struggle's blue-eyed boys.
One of the bribes was allegedly paid to Khotso de Wee, the commission's secretary. He has since been put on special leave after Agrizzi testified that he also paid him R800,000 while De Wee was COO of the department of justice. The alleged bribe was linked to a tender in 2013 for a security system in various courts around the country. De Wee is the second casualty of deputy chief justice Raymond Zondo's inquiry. The first was former finance minister Nhlanhla Nene, who resigned following revelations that he had numerous meetings with the infamous Gupta brothers.
But as we report today, the best is yet to come from Agrizzi. When he takes the stand tomorrow he is expected to implicate a number of ANC leaders, including former president Jacob Zuma, as among those who had been in the pockets of the Watsons. Agrizzi will also name well-known ANC-aligned civil servants. His evidence is also expected to finally explain to South Africans why the Watsons were never prosecuted. They enjoyed political protection because Zuma, according to Agrizzi, was in their pocket, along with two of the country's highest-ranking prosecutors - former deputy directors of public prosecutions Nomgcobo Jiba and Lawrence Mrwebi.
Though we appreciate Agrizzi coming forward with all this information and encourage others in his position to follow suit, we can never hail him as a hero. We may be short of role models in SA today, but we cannot be so desperate that we put on a pedestal charlatans like Agrizzi who have fleeced millions of rands from the public purse and who have admitted to benefiting immensely from the proceeds of crime.
Agrizzi is not a hero. He is a criminal. Agrizzi did not approach the commission out of the goodness of his heart.
In the first day on the stand he said he had volunteered to give evidence and he was doing so freely and as required by the Prevention and Combating of Corrupt Activities Act. Though that is true, he was not subpoenaed. The real reason he approached the commission was not to help Zondo get to the bottom of this sophisticated and elaborate scheme. It was Agrizzi's way of getting back at Watson.
Our report today shows that Agrizzi would have kept quiet had Watson agreed to give him the company. His people had made a detailed proposal that would have kept Agrizzi's mouth shut. Watson would have retired with Agrizzi taking over the criminal empire as CEO. Agrizzi would have paid Watson R10m a month just to sit at home. When this hostile takeover failed, Agrizzi decided to spill the beans. Had he succeeded, there is no doubt he would not have come forward.
The investigators must use Agrizzi's evidence to ensure that those he has implicated will be sent to jail. But he must join them. Together they deserve to rot in jail...