Nomvula Mokonyane fingered as head of Bosasa-funded ANC election war rooms

Minister of Environmental Affairs, Nomvula Mokonyane was identified by former Bosasa COO, Angelo Agrizzi, as one of the most important links in the business relationship between the facilities management company and certain government departments.

Agrizzi appeared for the second time before Deputy Chief Justice, Raymond Zondo, on Thursday to continue giving testimony from where he left off in January.

Read Angelo Agrizzi unveils deep corruption links between Bosasa and government

Angelo Agrizzi implicates Nomvula Mokonyane in looting The former chief operations officer went into further detail on how the company that now trades under the name, African Global Operations, managed to syphon as much as R2.5-billion from the state's purse on an annual basis.

At the heart of this covert and illicit operation was Mokonyane, Agrizzi testified.

She, at the time, was the premier of Gauteng and her relationship with Bosasa CEO, Gavin Watson, was what made her untouchable.

Mokonyane's alleged corrupt relationship with Bosasa Agrizzi removed himself as having anything to do with the facilitation of these bribes. According to his testimony, the winning over of government contracts was the sole duty of Watson.

The monthly bribe fee The CEO had allegedly made it clear to Agrizzi and others that Mokonyane was to get whatever she wished for, absolutely anything, as soon as the request's been made no questions asked.

Agrizzi further alleged that the minister, for her contribution towards ensuring the corruption wheel kept turning, was gratuitously paid R50 000 a month.

The former COO-turned-whistleblower even placed himself as an eye witness to two occasions a grey security bag, filled to the brim with R50 000, was delivered and handed over to the minister by Watson.

The first time he was around to witness the payment, Agrizzi admitted he could not recall the date. All he can remember is that it was when Mokonyane was the premier.

The second time was in Krugersdorp, he testified. Although he could not ascertain whether the house they were in was the minister's or not, he does recall that they were in a study room and there were memorabilia.

Mokonyane's Bosasa-funded property upgrades Agrizzi also recalled a time when he was picked up and transported to meet with Mokonyane by Watson in his Porsche Cayenne Turbo S. The minister had been experiencing issues with her property and it required a R300 000 upgrade.

Agrizzi told the commission that for Watson, Mokonyane was very important to him. The orders came in from the former premier and they came in hot, with a steep price tag attached to them.

Read State capture inquiry: Mokonyane gathers Bosasa defence amid rumours of being implicated in Agrizzi testimony

Packaging food and t-shirts for ANC campaigns Agrizzi alleged that, at any given time, they would have to supply lunch packs with pieces of chicken, slices of bread and juice for delivery to places like the University of Johannesburg.

Lekgotlas [ ] I think I have got more ANC t-shirts in my cupboard [ ] you got t-shirts and caps [ ] Siyanqoba rallies, we did those free of charge [ ] funerals [ ] all of that we would do [ ] it's fact, he revealed.

In other instances, Agrizzi testified, they would have to recruit around 30 people to stay in overnight and pack tens of thousands of lunch packs for campaign rallies and other ANC events.

Bosasa shielded by Mokonyane from SIU investigations Agrizzi admitted that the amount of corrupt activity they partook in with government departments inevitably caught the eye of the special investigative unit (SIU).

However, as he recalled, it was Mokonyane who was there to deviate any investigations from the facilities management company.

The big thing for me was the SIU case [of a controversial wind farm project]. I remember when we were running the ANC call centre, she turned around, I was walking with Gavin, she said to me don't worry about it, it's closed. The thing's closed. Don't worry about it, he said.

ANC election war rooms captained by Mokonyane Agrizzi attested to the existence of an ANC war room that was fully funded and managed by Bosasa. He confirmed that he was part of the two that occurred during the national elections in 2014 and the local government polls in 2016.

These were fully-fledged call centres that were branded with ANC signage everywhere, from the sweet that was on each table to the banners on the wall.

To run that War Room cost millions and millions of rand. That kind of operation that you were doing for the ANC [ ] you were doing it at the request of somebody, he said.

When asked by Zondo who this somebody' was, Agrizzi said it was Mokonyane.

Politicians' children benefited from the looting Agrizzi also revealed that Bosasa had to jump at any request Mokonyane had made, including serving the luxurious wants of her children. which ranged anywhere between R80 000 and R150 000.

Former correctional services head and Agrizzi's co-accused, Linda Mti, was also implicated as having used his influence to get his children to access sponsored flights, tickets and cars .

Tags: corruptionJohannesburgNomvula MokonyaneSouth Africastate capture inquiry

LINK:	https://www.thesouthafrican.com/nomvula-mokonyane-fingered-head-bosasa...
	See more stories from thesouthafrican

Most recent headlines