It seems like this has already been said all too often, and I’m sure it will be trotted out again shortly, but this is a very, very big week at the Zondo Commission.
Last week, Angelo Agrizzi began to spill the beans on how, why and to whom Bosasa dished out their bribes, including a video showing the piles of cash on its way to grease palms.
Bosasa CEO Gavin Watson was hung out to dry, and his family were said to “make the Guptas look like amateurs”, with Agrizzi saying that he was testifying because he had a guilty conscience.
Sounds noble, but it turns out a failed bid to take over Bosasa from Watson might have something to do with his urge to talk.
Reporting below via TimesLIVE:
…a video recording and documents said to have been taken from his work computer claim he plotted to destroy Watson’s company after he was fired in 2016, allegedly for stealing money.
According to the materials, Agrizzi [below] threatened to expose the company’s dodgy dealings if he was not given control of it.
In the recording, Agrizzi’s business partner, Andries van Tonder (a former Bosasa CFO who was this week revealed as the man who took video footage showing how money was allegedly taken from the Bosasa vault to Gavin Watson’s office), and Jared Watson, Gavin’s nephew, discuss Agrizzi’s proposal to remove Gavin. Van Tonder says Gavin must “retire to Port Elizabeth”, allowing Agrizzi to take control of the company. Gavin will be paid R10m a month and Agrizzi will “manage the media”.
Several other options on how the takeover could work are also discussed.
The audio recording below was made in August last year, and was leaked to the media by Bosasa employees, who are clearly trying to fight back.
Here you go:
Documents were also leaked along with the audio, with the former coming from Agrizzi’s computer following his dismissal and cool R40 million payout.
They include a media plan, which entails one story published each week for 14 weeks, ultimately leading to a review of the company’s contracts with the government, an inquiry by parliament’s watchdog public accounts committee and a criminal probe.
A senior source in Bosasa, who spoke on condition his name was not revealed, said Agrizzi felt aggrieved his plans had failed.
“Agrizzi is aggrieved because he was found to be stealing from the company. He was stealing millions of rands. He threatened Watson [below with Jacob Zuma] and a settlement of R40m was paid to him in cash,” said the source. “But he was not happy and said he’s going to expose Watson because he wanted shares.”
…Another source, who also asked not to be named, said the company would prepare a response, and would expose Agrizzi.
“How did he amass his wealth while working for this company? We are planning a fightback, it’s going to be a smart one.
“Agrizzi has been happy enjoying life in the past six months, exposing this company while he rightly knows that he’s not innocent, he’s not an angel. Gavin is the one who has helped many people in the country; he’s a person who is loved by people, a person who prays every day.”
In other words, get ready for the spin machine to put the foot flat on the accelerator.
Over the weekend, the fake news also began to kick into overdrive. A WhatsApp message began circulating, which then found its way onto Twitter, trying to discredit the Sunday Times story linking Bosasa to Jacob Zuma and other ANC members.
The paper was then forced to address the issue:
With the elections just around the corner, we are all going to have to be on high alert for political trickery. Remember Bell Pottinger? They may have been destroyed, but the methods remain the same.
If you’re forwarding these messages, and others, without doing the bare minimum fact-checking (use Google, check for the same information in a reputable news source, the simple stuff) then you’re part of the problem.
Back to how this is a very, very big week at the Zondo Commission – here’s News24:
Former president Jacob Zuma’s foundation was paid R300 000 a month by Bosasa for years, allegedly in exchange for his influence to ensure that political leaders would open doors to new government contracts.
As the relationship with Zuma grew, Bosasa CEO Gavin Watson turned to Zuma to kill an ongoing corruption probe by National Prosecuting Authority (NPA) officials and the Hawks.
News24 has reliably learned that former Bosasa chief operations officer Angelo Agrizzi will reveal this and more during his hair-raising testimony before the Zondo Commission of inquiry into state capture this coming week.
Yeah – you might want to follow that one quite closely.
