Legalbrief | your legal news hub Tuesday 28 September 2021

Zuma placed at centre of corruption web

Whistle-blower Angelo Agrizzi, on the penultimate day of his testimony exposing the relationship between , politicians and state functionaries, drew former President and his ally and former SAA chair, , into the centre of the web of corruption that allowed the facilities management company to land billions in state contracts, notes Legalbrief. On the eighth day of his dizzying allegations he told the of Inquiry into that Bosasa CEO Gavin Watson personally gave Zuma a bag with R300 000 cash in it and also approached him to have the investigation into the company’s contracts with the Department of Correctional Services ‘shut down’. He also claimed Myeni had provided a confidential NPA document to him and Watson at a meeting at the Sheraton Hotel in Pretoria. A Business Day report notes Agrizzi told the commission yesterday that the first time Watson was introduced to Zuma was when he was elected ANC president, but was not yet President of the country. The second introduction was made by Myeni, once he had become President of the country. Agrizzi said Bosasa, which has since been renamed African Global Operations, was paying Myeni R300 000 a month, which was meant to go to the . Myeni was the chair of the foundation. ‘At one stage Watson was concerned that Zuma was not receiving the R300,000. Watson said we must pack it (the money) and he would deliver it himself and make sure he (Zuma) was getting the money from Myeni,’ Agrizzi said. ‘He said he personally delivered it (the money) to Jacob Zuma, put the bag next to him and asked him the question, "Does Dudu Myeni give you your money every month?" – and the answer was yes.’

Agrizzi said he always suspected the money given to Myeni, allegedly for the foundation, was actually for Zuma himself. However, he did not have proof of this and it was merely an assumption, notes a TimesLIVE report. ‘Surely if it was for a foundation it (the payment) would be via EFT. Maybe it was for a foundation but why would you want it in cash,’ he mused. He claimed Zuma accepted the money to do the company's bidding. The former President is alleged to have used his influence to help effect legislative changes and cripple investigations into the controversial company. Agrizzi described how Bosasa was approached by Falcon Oil and Gas in relation to the Karoo fracking transaction in the Northern Cape. ‘They brought the opportunity to Bosasa. What they were looking for was a facilitation management company. I, at that stage, knew that the reason why they brought the transaction to us was because Gavin Watson had a close relationship with Dudu Myeni. That was a critical point for us,’ Agrizzi said. He said legislative changes were needed to continue with the fracking project. He alleged Myeni co-ordinated a meeting (in 2016) at Zuma’s Nkandla home between the then President, Watson, Falcon Oil CEO Philip O’Quigley and attorney Lizel Oberholzer. ‘The meeting was to effect legislative changes that the oil and gas industry required. The meeting with the President was extremely successful. The (Minister of Energy's) advisers were instructed to meet with Oberholzer and make the legislative changes needed,’ Agrizzi said. He said he wasn’t sure if those changes were ever effected.

The relationship between Watson and Zuma made the controversial businessman feel untouchable, the commission heard. ‘He believed he was totally bulletproof ... with Mr Zuma on his side,’ Agrizzi is quoted as saying by the Mail & Guardian. Watson would often praise Zuma at length during morning meetings at the company, Agrizzi said. He also valued his relationship with Myeni, whom Agrizzi alleged leaked confidential NPA documents to Bosasa officials relating to an investigation into the company. According to TimesLIVE, Agrizzi, said he and Watson, had met Myeni at the Sheraton Hotel in Pretoria. ‘She explained to us that she had had meetings at the NPA. She said that they were working on closing down and shutting down the case. She gave me the docket and said 'you can write down things but please don’t make copies and take photographs'. She was working on getting the Bosasa investigation closed down,’ Agrizzi alleged. ‘It looked like a police case docket. She took some notes out of the folder and said I must look at these notes.’ Agrizzi said he had asked to be excused so he could make notes. He admitted to taking photographs of the docket as he was pressed for time. ‘I wrote down quite a bit in the back of one of my journals. I thought let me rather take photographs of the documents so if she comes to take it away, at least I got photographs,’ Agrizzi said. ‘It was asked that she go to the President and get the investigation closed up immediately.’ Yesterday, Myeni reportedly sent eNCA texts responding to Agrizzi’s claims saying: he was lying. According to The Citizen, she said his ‘greed was worrisome’ and he was a ‘racist, bitter man’.

Earlier yesterday, explaining the Zuma payment arrangements via Myeni, Agrizzi emphasised the money was always paid in cash, and he knew this because he would have to arrange to ‘pack the money’. He told the commission about an incident when Myeni was given a Louis Vuitton handbag with R300 000 cash inside, notes a TimesLIVE report. Agrizzi said that early one morning Watson asked how he could impress Myeni, to which Agrizzi said he had no idea, but ‘ask my wife’. ‘My wife said to him "you should go buy a nice handbag, Louis Vuitton".’ This was arranged and the handbag, with the money inside, was delivered to Myeni, he said. Agrizzi said he saw Watson place the money in the bag. ‘It was delivered to Dudu Myeni because afterwards when I saw her again she actually thanked me for the bag because she thought it was a nice bag, she thought it made a good statement for her,’ he said. Agrizzi said Bosasa also organised high-end functions for Myeni and the Jacob Zuma Foundation and provided security services at her home, notes BusinessLIVE. No questions were asked when she made these requests. ‘She was very important, she could swing deals. She was powerful,’ he said. Agrizzi said Myeni was ‘close to the President and calls the shots’.

Armscor chief executive has slammed Agrizzi allegations as ’malicious, a gross fabrication and the fabric of lies’, according to a report on the IoL site. A statement issued on Wakeford's behalf confirmed that he has officially been notified by the Zondo Commission's secretariat that his name appears in papers submitted to the commission. He denied Agrizzi’s allegations, saying he is ‘confident that he will be able to clear his name in due course’. He also confirmed his professional relationship as a retained consultant to Bosasa for approximately eight years, saying his advisory role covered a range of issues relating to the political economy. ‘At all times I avoided conflicts of interest by disclosing my relationships. There is sufficient evidence to validate such,’ he explained. The Armscor head went on to say that he believed in and respected the ‘rule of law’ and the process of testing evidence to achieve a just outcome and to that end, he and his legal representatives were preparing a detailed submission.