State capture inquiry: Take a look inside the Bosasa bribe vault [video]

It's day two of Angelo Agrizzi's testimony to the state capture inquiry. His first appearance on Wednesday has been heralded as one of the most explosive since the hearings began after he exposed the dodgy dealings of security service company Bosasa.

Agrizzi a former top executive of the company has been singing like a canary, with some revelations making the Guptas seem like honest businessman. Thursday has been just as compelling, as we got to take a look inside the infamous bribe vault in the main offices.

Watch footage from inside the Bosasa bribe vault here: The inquiry was shown a six-minute video clip of an exchange between Agrizzi, CEO Gavin Watson and two other bigwigs at the company. They're transporting items to the vault, and well, it's eye-opening stuff. eNCA's Erin Bates shared the clips via her Twitter page

#StateCaptureInquiry @StateCaptureCom The beginning of the full clip which Agrizzi says was filmed by Van Tonder in 2017, and which he has testified shows four Bosasa directors and laundered bribe money AKA monopoly money, bread or chicken orders for the week. pic.twitter.com/kVlykc5cpn

Erin Bates (@ermbates) January 17, 2019 #StateCaptureInquiry @StateCaptureCom Part two from the the full clip which Agrizzi says was filmed by Bosasa CFO Van Tonder in 2017, and which he has testified shows four Bosasa directors and stacks, also bags of laundered bribe money. pic.twitter.com/z1f1oDVe38

Erin Bates (@ermbates) January 17, 2019 On another topsy-turvy day of testimony, we were treated to the spilt tea that we were promised. We've collated the main highlights of Agrizzi's second day, and we're impressed: How he managed to live up to the lunacy of the previous day, we're not quite sure. But hey, this is South Africa.

Bosasa bribe vault: What's behind the sealed doors? Lots of cash Well, obviously. On Wednesday we heard that that Bosasa considered bribes of up to R6 million drops in the ocean . From the video footage played to the hearing on Thursday, Agrizzi identified a pile of cash as being at least R1 million stacked and prepared on the table.

These vast amounts of cash were referred to as monopoly money by Watson, who claimed he gave it that term because he wanted to establish a monopoly through bribery. Skin-crawling stuff.

What's in the box? The Zondo Commission was also told that some lumps of cash were contained in special boxes, and were often moved from Watson's office to the main vault. These would be the main method of storing the mega-bribes .

Confidential files Bribery takes more than one form, you know. Angelo Agrizzi made it clear that the company kept very confidential information within the walls of the vault. Although not much more was said about this, it's safe to assume that this would involve details of corrupt activity and information on certain clients.

Little black books If you're going to keep the government, businesses and state-owned entities on strings, you need to have your paperwork in order. The state capture inquiry has heard how Agrizzi's little black book otherwise known as his bribe log was stored in the grubby Bosasa vault.

Bosasa and the grey security bags Remember how Watson and Agrizzi used to take bribes to Airport Companies South Africa (ACSA) in their grey security bags? Yep, they've got a place on the shelves too. Nice to see they keep everything related to corruption in one room, really. Convenient.

When your corruption racket is so big, you need more than one bribe vault There are two main vaults one in the main secretary's office, and one in Gavin Watson's office:

People with access to the Bosasa vault

Angelo Agrizzi, ex-COO.

Gavin Watson, CEO.

Joe Gumede, ex-Chairman.

Andries van Tonder, CFO.

It transpires that only four people in the whole executive structure were allowed to visit the vault. Agrizzi and Watson also allowed two others the same unprecedented access they granted themselves:

Tags: corruptionSouth Africastate capture inquiry

LINK:	https://www.thesouthafrican.com/state-capture-bosasa-bribe-vault-agriz...
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