Senior ANC MP steps aside
Claims Vincent Smith accepted payments from management company Bosasa
EMBATTLED ANC senior MP Vincent Smith has stepped aside from chairing any parliamentary committee until the ethics committee finalises its probe into money he allegedly received from a facilities management group.
This after Smith, who is the co-chairperson of the constitutional review committee, came under fire when reports surfaced at the weekend that he had been paid R670 000 by management company Bosasa.
The City Press reported that Smith allegedly accepted the installation of electric fences and a high-end CCTV system at his home worth roughly R200 000, and allegedly also received R100 000 in cash from Bosasa chief executive Gavin Watson every month.
Smith was quoted confirming some of the payments, claiming that they were personal loans, but he denied receiving monthly cash payments.
The DA lodged an official complaint with the ethics committee on Monday.
Yesterday morning, Smith had to step out of the meeting of the constitutional review committee he co-chairs with Lewis Nzimande to prepare a statement following meetings with ANC chief whip Jackson Mthembu.
In a statement, Smith confirmed entering into an agreement for a personal loan with Bosasa chief operating officer Angelo Agrizzi, which was paid in two separate payments of R220 000 in 2015 and R395 000 in 2016 for the university tuition fees of his daughter.
“I deny any further assistance, financial or otherwise, including the installation of CCTV cameras at my home from him or any other person or company. The cameras that are at my home were paid for by myself,” he said.
He said he supported being held accountable and welcomed any investigation. “I will fully participate in the parliamentary process led by the ethics committee, a process which I have no doubt will absolve me completely.
“I am also going to present myself to the ANC Integrity Commission at their earliest convenience in the interest of being held accountable by my own organisation,” he said.
Smith, who was elected last week to head the justice and correctional services portfolio committee, has asked the ANC parliamentary caucus to be allowed to step aside from heading any parliamentary committee until the ethics committee finalises its work.
“I therefore urge the parliamentary ethics committee to speedily process this matter in order for me to clear my name as soon as possible.
“On conclusion of the parliamentary ethics committee process, I am more than willing to answer any further questions that South Africans or the media might have,” Smith said.
Mthembu said he welcomed Smith’s willingness to subject himself to the ethics committee.
“We further welcome his voluntary declaration to appear before the ANC integrity commission to air these matters that have been raised in the media, as a means of being held accountable by his organisation, the ANC,” Mthembu said.
He also said they suspected the timing for the allegations was inspired by the ANC’s position on the expropriation of land without compensation.
“In recent weeks, Comrade Smith has been on national and international platforms articulating the ANC’s position on the expropriation of land without compensation.
“We are therefore convinced that he is a target of the organisations who are vehemently opposed to our people getting access to the land that they were dispossessed of by colonial and apartheid oppressors.”