Agrizzi to give probe into Jiba and Mrwebi a miss

Former Bosasa COO Angelo Agrizzi will not be taking the stand on Friday to testify about alleged Bosasa bribes paid to suspended prosecutions bosses Nomgcobo Jiba and Lawrence Mrwebi — because of his recent corruption arrest.

Agrizzi’s attorney Daniel Witz yesterday told Business Day that he had received legal advice whether his client should testify at the Mokgoro inquiry into Jiba and Mrwebi’s fitness to hold office, and had been advised that doing so “could violate Mr Agrizzi’s constitutional rights to a fair trial”.

“We have been advised that, in terms of Mr Agrizzi’s constitutional rights, if he gives evidence at the Mokgoro inquiry and he incriminates himself, that evidence can be used against him. He has therefore decided to protect his rights and not testify.”

Witz said Agrizzi was still considering whether to continue giving evidence at the Zondo commission into state capture, where he has given detailed testimony on alleged payments by the facilities management company of millions in bribes to senior ANC leaders and government officials to secure state tenders valued at billions of rand. He was arrested and charged in a matter involving Bosasa and the department of correctional services, dating back to a 2009 investigation.

His arrest raised concern that other whistleblowers would be scared off from testifying at the Zondo commission, possibly hindering its prospects of uncovering more corruption.

During his testimony to the commission, Agrizzi claimed that former national commissioner of correctional services Linda Mti had told him that Jiba and Mrwebi were receiving bribes to ensure that prosecutions linked to a 2009 Special Investigating Unit (SIU) report into correctional services and Bosasa would never see the light of day.

Jiba and Mrwebi have denied these allegations.

The charges against Agrizzi and his co-accused, who include Mti, stem from that SIU report, and relate to four correctional services tenders valued at more than R1.6bn.

While the Zondo commission does not allow for evidence given by witnesses to be used against them in criminal proceedings, the Mokgoro inquiry is governed by the National Prosecuting Authority Act, which offers no such immunity. The Mokgoro inquiry also has no power to subpoena witnesses.

Contacted by Business Day on Wednesday, Mokgoro inquiry evidence leader Nazreen Bawa declined to comment on Agrizzi’s decision not to testify in the Jiba and Mrwebi probe, which will finish hearing evidence on Friday. Jiba and Mrwebi will respond after the evidence leaders conclude their case at the end of the week.

The inquiry is expected to hand over the report on its investigations to President Cyril Ramaphosa in early March.

Agrizzi maintains his arrest was motivated by a desire to sabotage the Zondo and Mokgoro inquiries, a claim strongly denied by the Hawks. New national director of public prosecutions Shamila Batohi said she was not consulted or briefed about the arrests and has asked for an urgent briefing by the prosecutors involved.

Attorney Zola Majavu said on Wednesday his client Jiba was “very disappointed” that Agrizzi would not be testifying, or facing cross-examination, and that they would address the inquiry on the issue. Jiba also intended to testify at the Zondo commission to deal with Agrizzi’s testimony against her.

R1.6bn the value of four correctional services tenders, which were allocated to Bosasa