Minister of Environmental Affairs Nomvula Mokonyane briefs media in Johannesburg on November 6, 2018. Picture: Nigel Sibanda
Bosasa former chief operating officer (COO) Angelo Agrizzi told the commission of inquiry into state capture on Monday that for years Bosasa paid Nomvula Mokonyane R50,000.
Agrizzi told the commission that the company’s CEO, Gavin Watson “would take money with him to see the minister”.
He said he packed the money which Watson “often would deliver in front of me”.
Agrizzi said the R50,000 was given to Mokonyane over a few occasions, adding that he could not recall the period of time but it was a long time over the years, which he said: “Never ever stopped.”
Agrizzi said Watson was meeting Mokonyane a lot at the time and the company, saying that the payments continued to be made to Mokonyane even after he left the company in 2016.
He said he came to know of the payments when he started packing the money around 2009.
“Chair, it was monthly, I wouldn’t deliver it, Mr Watson would deliver it because he used that time to talk about the politics of the day,” Agrizzi told the commission.
Agrizzi said in 2014 the company was asked by Mokonyane to provide analysis of securing the dams in the country when Mokonyane was the minister of water and sanitation and that the company was never paid for the report which cost Bosasa R1.3 million.
He said, to his understanding the company had been asked to do this so Bosasa would be awarded a tender.
Agrizzi said at some point he complained to Watson that Mokonyane was being paid a lot of money when the company was not benefitting from Mokonyane.
He said Watson’s response, however, was that Mokonyane had a lot of clout and that the company would find itself in trouble if it stopped the payments.
Other benefits to the company, Agrizzi said, were that Mokonyane was supposed to ensure that SAPS charges against Bosasa would be withdrawn and that she would speak to former president Jacob Zuma about a Hawks investigation with the view that charges against the company would be dropped “if there were charges”.
Agrizzi’s testimony continues:
For more news your way, download The Citizen’s app for iOS and Android.