Crime-busters align to put former ANC MP in the dock
Two significant state capture cases have been brought before the courts just as deputy chief justice Raymond Zondo s inquiry faces increasing attacks on its legitimacy, especially from former president Jacob Zuma.
Former ANC MP Vincent Smith, once a respected parliamentarian who chaired multiple hard-hitting investigation committees, appeared in the Palm Ridge commercial crimes court on Thursday on charges of fraud and corruption. He was granted R30,000 bail and will be back in court on October 14.
Smith s arrest follows the recent amendment by President Cyril Ramaphosa of the regulations governing the Zondo inquiry, which was appointed over two years ago to probe allegations that parts of the Zuma administration had been captured to serve pri
vate commercial interests and not those of the country. Allegations of his corruption emerged when former Bosasa COO Angelo Agrizzi testified at the inquiry about cash payments and other gifts the company used to secure lucrative government tenders.
The amendments allowed for direct interaction between the National Prosecuting Authority (NPA) and inquiry investigators over the evidence uncovered by the commission and were described as a game changer by investigative directorate head Hermione Cronje.
After the initial optimism following the appointment of Shamila Batohi as the national director of public prosecutions in December 2018, the NPA, one of the institutions decimated under the Zuma presidency, has come under increasing criticism for its failure to prosecute perpetrators of corruption.
The change in regulations, announced by Ramaphosa in July, resulted in the Zondo inquiry being the first commission in SA history to allow for investigation and prosecution of alleged malfeasance to occur in parallel with each other.
Zuma has indicated that these amendments may curtail his already very limited participation in the inquiry, which is scheduled to hear an application next week for him to be subpoenaed to testify.
Zondo is also preparing to consider an application by Zuma for his recusal as chair of the inquiry.
LUCRATIVE TENDERS
Smith, who served as chair of parliament s portfolio committee on correctional services, allegedly took bribes from Bosasa (now African Global Operations) in exchange for doing nothing about the serious evidence of corruption against the facilities management company uncovered by a Special Investigating Unit (SIU) probe.
In his evidence to the commission, Agrizzi also implicated a number of senior ANC officials.
Agrizzi will, however, now face corruption charges with Smith. His attorney DanielWitz said Agrizzi would nevertheless continue to co-operate with the Zondo inquiry and the NPA.
He would encourage others not to be deterred by what happened to him and to blow the whistle on corruption,” he said. Smith s arrest came a day after the NPA confirmed that seven people, including Free State government officials, had been charged in connection with the province s R255m asbestos audit scandal.
The audit was intended to rid Free State of hazardous asbestos but allegedly degenerated into a web of corruption, fraud and money laundering. Former Free State economic development MEC Mxolisi Dukwana told the Zondo inquiry in 2020 that the province s then premier Ace
Magashule had been heavily involved in the so-called asbestos heist.
Magashule, who has promised to give his side of the story when he testifies before Zondo, has not been charged.
Business Day has established that authorities are planning a second wave of arrests linked to the asbestos scandal, which is one of multiple Free State projects mired in corruption allegations.
VINCENT SMITH WAS ONCE A RESPECTED MP WHO CHAIRED MULTIPLE HARD-HITTING INVESTIGATION COMMITTEES