ANC: Bosasa is not funding our campaign
Liquidators to investigate all payments and donations by the company to the governing party
The ANC insists it is not receiving any election funding from Bosasa, as the liquidators of the controversial facilities management company confirmed they will be investigating all payments, donations and sponsorships made to the party. ANC spokesperson Dakota Legoete told Business Day that the party had not received any form of election funding or sponsorship from Bosasa for the general elections in May. He was unable to say when Bosasa’s sponsorship of the party stopped, or under what circumstances.
The ANC insists it is not receiving any election funding from Bosasa, as the liquidators of the controversial facilities management company confirmed they will be investigating all payments, donations and sponsorships made by it to the party.
ANC spokesperson Dakota Legoete told Business Day that the party had not received any form of election funding or sponsorship from Bosasa for the general elections in May.
He was unable to say when Bosasa’s sponsorship of the party stopped, or under what circumstances. “But we can assure voters that we are not receiving sponsorship from them now,” Legoete said.
He said the party was still intent on seeking to crossexamine former Bosasa COO Angelo Agrizzi over his evidence at the state capture inquiry that Bosasa had given the ANC’s top six officials R12m between 2004 and 2006.
Between May 2004 and December 2005 the department of correctional services awarded four tenders, worth R2bn, to Bosasa. The Special Investigating Unit later found these contracts to have been defined by tender-rigging and corruption.
“Mr Agrizzi has clarified that these alleged payments to the top six were donations. They were not bribes,” Legoete said. “But we still want to crossexamine him. We want the full truth to come out.”
He claims Agrizzi’s evidence about Bosasa giving money to the top six was clearly designed to undermine the ANC prior to the national elections.
Legoete said the ANC would address Agrizzi’s other damaging claims against the party including that Bosasa paid off ANC MPs and ministers and sponsored multiple party events and projects as part of a corrupt scheme to ensure it was awarded multibillion-rand tenders when it made a full submission to the Zondo inquiry.
ANC MP Vincent Smith, who Agrizzi says Bosasa kept on a corrupt retainer with multiple bribes to do the party’s bidding in parliament, on Friday said he was seeking legal advice on whether he should seek to cross-examine Agrizzi.
Agrizzi’s lawyers told Business Day that they have not received any application from the ANC to cross-examine him.
Agrizzi on Sunday said he was ready to face cross-examination from the ANC and strongly denied that his testimony about Bosasa’s alleged donations to the top six was designed to undermine the ANC prior to the elections.
Cloete Murray, the lead liquidator in the Bosasa liquidation, confirmed that the company’s funding, sponsorship or payments to the ANC would be subject to investigation.
If the payments were found to amount to “impeachable dispositions” under the Insolvency Act, for instance in circumstances where they resulted in no value to Bosasa, liquidators can launch court proceedings to recover such funding.
The liquidators of slain mining magnate Brett Kebble’s estate used this law to recover part of his multimillionrand donation to the ANC Youth League.