As long as one is dishing the dirt on Jacob Zuma and his corrupt cabal, many South Africans are seemingly pretty forgiving.

Former Bosasa COO Angelo Agrizzi is a great example of that, with his testimony at the Zondo Commission revealing how his company had almost every bigwig ANC politician at their beck and call.

Sure, he lost a few fans when it emerged that he was a massive racist, but we want bigger heads to roll, and he’s just small fry.

Agrizzi may have thrown Bosasa chief Gavin Watson under the bus, and there is little love lost between them, but both men do seem to share a remarkable ability to find inner peace.

Watson recently brushed off reporters waiting outside his home without seeming stressed at all, and we now know that Agrizzi has little problem getting a solid night’s kip in.

During an interview yesterday with Chad Thomas on Jewish community radio station Chai FM, which News24 reports on, Agrizzi opened up on a number of issues, including the benefits of whistleblowing:

“Do it, even if they arrest you – the truth will always come out. Don’t stop, work with the authorities,” Agrizzi said.

When asked by a listener how he slept at night, having been involved in large-scale corruption, Agrizzi replied: “I sleep very well, thank you. Before [testifying before the Zondo commission of inquiry into state capture] I didn’t, but now I do.”

Agrizzi likened his tenure at Bosasa to “a woman in an abusive relationship”.

“You hope it gets better. But it took me years to get out of it,” Agrizzi said.

Agrizzi also described the culture at Bosasa as that of “a cult”, where prayer meetings were held and money donated to religious institutions to counter the dodgy deals that were going down.

“But when you’re in Africa, you do as the Africans do,” Agrizzi said of the bribes used to influence politicians.

Wow, there’s plenty to unpack there.

Agrizzi’s abusive relationship analogy is terrible, because he was getting filthy, stinkin’ rich whilst the tender process was repeatedly abused, and then there’s the bit about ‘do as the Africans do’.

Look, he’s admitted that he’s a racist, but comments like that speak volumes of the man.

Back to Agrizzi and his hate-hate relationship with Watson:

“He hasn’t been arrested because he’s very clever. He hides his name from everything.”

This is why Agrizzi decided to make a video recording of Watson to “prove he was aware of everything, as his signature appears nowhere”.

Agrizzi described Watson as a narcissistic micromanager who interfered in every aspect of the business.

“He was the patriarch.”

Agrizzi said Watson was politically connected and that, through him, he had met high-ranking politicians, “from the president all the way through”.

You only need to look at the way Watson speaks to his staff to know that he’s a terrible human being.

Oh, you know Agrizzi blew that religious horn:

Alternately fielding questions from listeners and Thomas, Agrizzi said he had personally benefited from Bosasa deals and felt remorse for his involvement, which had prompted him to spill the beans.

“But I am not afraid. God has my back. I have no concerns at all.”

Amazing.

Ultimately, we need to encourage whistleblowers to come forward, especially when the rot runs as deep as it does in this country, but we shouldn’t forget the roles these people played in selling our democratic processes down the river for financial gain.

He also spoke about his arrest earlier this month, his views on the state capture commission, and Cyril Ramaphosa. You can read more about the interview here.

[source:news24]