Evidence given by Agrizzi ‘false, malicious’

BUSINESSMAN Kevin Wakeford told the Commission of Inquiry into state capture yesterday that former Bosasa chief operating officer Angelo Agrizzi was allegedly racist.

Wakeford said he had considered the relevant portions of the affidavits previously submitted by Agrizzi and former Bosasa employee Frans Vorster as well as their oral evidence before the commission.

He stated that in both instances, the witnesses had made false, malicious, scant, vague and unsubstantiated allegations.

"I unequivocally deny these allegations made by these witnesses seeking to implicate me in corruption and fraud in relation to Bosasa and the Department of Home Affairs, SA Revenue Service (Sars), or any other organ of state,” said Wakeford.

Agrizzi previously told the commission that Wakeford allegedly received R100 000 a month for helping Bosasa “resolve its Sars issues”.

“My banking records and Bosasa financial records between myself and Agrizzi all confirm I was a consultant at Bosasa from 2006 to April 2015 on a monthly retainer of R57 000 including VAT and R50 000 excluding VAT; this amount never changed. The only occasion I was paid R100 000 per month was when I had not been paid my retainer in previous months,” Wakeford said.

He indicated that his relationship with the late Bosasa executive Gavin Watson began in the 1980s while he was a student at a Port Elizabeth university, where he was recruited by ANC underground cell structures.

Wakeford said Agrizzi appeared to view economic inclusion and Afrocentricity as a burden rather than a necessity. He said some time after meeting Agrizzi, he had expressed his concerns about Agrizzi's character and attitude to Watson.

He told the commission that in a recording that was made of Agrizzi at his home on August 24, 2018, speaking about the black community collectively, Agrizzi allegedly said, "they steal, they loot, they rape, they destroy”.