Posts for June 2021
1 June 2021
Lucky Montana has been accused by two of his former subordinates of fabricating evidence he submitted to the state capture commission. The former CEO of Prasa told the commission during his appearance last month that former legal head Martha Ngoye and current head of strategy Tiro Holele were involved in the bid adjudicating committee (BAC) that recommended the award of the R3.5-billion locomotives contract to Swifambo Rail Leasing in 2013.
Montana invented evidence for commission, Zondo hears
1 June 2021
Like his predecessor Anoj Singh, former Transnet CFO Garry Pita rented a number of safety deposit boxes at Johannesburg’s Knox Vault facility over the course of a few months in 2015. This was around the time that Gupta-linked Regiments Capital was starting to cash in on its allegedly irregular contracts with Transnet.
Pita’s safety deposit boxes come under scrutiny
10 June 2021
Former Glencore director and Optimum Coal Holdings (OCH) CEO Clinton Ephron has described as “ridiculous” the allegations before the state capture commission that Glencore used its relationship with President Cyril Ramaphosa to bully Eskom into increasing the price it paid for coal from OCH.
Glencore didn’t use Ramaphosa to bully Eskom, Zondo hears
15 June 2021
The chairperson of the state capture commission, Deputy Chief Justice Raymond Zondo, has dismissed an application by advocacy group AfriForum to cross-examine President Cyril Ramaphosa on the issue of the ANC’s cadre deployment policy.
AfriForum will not cross-examine Ramaphosa
16 June 2021
Robert McBride will not be cross-examined before the state capture commission by advocates of the National Prosecuting Authority (NPA) whom he implicated in his testimony of capture.
No cross-exam for McBride, Booysen by NPA 8
17 June 2021
The state capture commission will on Thursday launch its fourth application, with the North Gauteng High Court, for an extension of its term. This was announced by chairperson Deputy Chief Justice Raymond Zondo at the start of proceedings on Thursday morning.
Zondo to critics: I will not be rushed into concluding inquiry to satisfy you
17 June 2021
Former cabinet minister Malusi Gigaba has maintained that his estranged wife Noma Mngoma used the state capture commission to get back at him for refusing to submit to demands relating to their divorce settlement.
More of the Gigaba, Mngoma show
18 June 2021
Siyabonga Mahlangu, who was the special legal advisor of former public enterprises minister Malusi Gigaba, met with members of the Gupta family to “shield” Gigaba from possible undue influence stemming from the family’s potential expectations as ANC funders. Gigaba told this to the state capture commission on Friday.
Gigaba advisor’s role probed by Zondo
21 June 2021
Former public enterprises minister Malusi Gigaba has once again denied claims that during his tenure he interfered in operational matters of state-owned entities(SOEs) under his watch, or by delegating his special legal advisor Siyabonga Mahlangu. Gigaba was in the portfolio from November 2010 to May 2014.
Gigaba denies letting Mahlangu bully SOEs
22 June 2021
The state capture commission has heard how money laundering entities linked to the Gupta enterprise allegedly paid millions to attorneys retained by former president Jacob Zuma in different litigation matters, in 2014.
Zuma lawyers paid through Gupta laundering network, Zondo hears
22 June 2021
Former Eskom executive Matshela Koko may have misled the state capture commission in his claim that he laid a criminal case of corruption against then colleague Abram Masango in 2017, which led to the latter implicating him in state capture.
Masango refutes Koko claim of criminal case
22 June 2021
The case of the R1-million cash donation to the KwaZulu-Natal ANC in June 2009 –allegedly linked to the “Amigos” corruption case–once again featured before the state capture commission on Tuesday evening. The party’s former provincial treasurer and now deputy chairperson,Mike Mabuyakhulu, returned to conclude his testimony, and to cross-examine an investigator in the Amigos case.
Mabuyakhulu cross-examines investigator on “flawed” Amigos evidence
23 June 2021
Malusi Gigaba says it was an “unfortunate coincidence” that the alleged massive looting of state owned entities (SOEs)probed by the state capture commission since 2018 happened during his tenure as public enterprises minister.
Knowing the Guptas doesn’t make me complicit, says Gigaba
24 June 2021
Angelo Agrizzi says he is healed from racism and more than he is a whistle-blower, he is a hero who exposed corruption perpetuated by his former employer Bosasa. Agrizzi was cross-examined on Thursday evening by the legal representatives of Kevin Wakeford, one of over 200 people he implicated in his evidence before the state capture commission in explosive testimony heard in early 2019.
Agrizzi using convenient memory loss to avoid perjury, says Wakeford’s lawyer
25 June 2021
South Africa should consider a system of debarment to punish errant companies repeatedly doing business with the state, and along with this, open up the supplier database to include the ownership and directorship of such companies so that they are publicly recorded.
Transparency in govt bids could help curb corruption, sleuth tells Zondo
25 June 2021
An ANC office bearer in the KwaZulu-Natal provincial office, Delani Mzila, has told the commission of inquiry into state capture that the affidavit he signed on behalf of the party in 2009, confirming the receipt of a R1-million cash donation, was imposed on him as he was not fully aware of the details of the donation
Mabuyakhulu donation comes back to haunt junior ANC official
28 June 2021
Deputy minister of state security Zizi Kodwa has confirmed that he received a series of payments along with accommodation and catering services from former EOH executive Jehan Mackay. But these were not offered in expectation of him giving the company preferential treatment for government tenders, he says.
Kodwa denies tender favours for EOH
29 June 2021
Former president Jacob Zuma is to present himself to either the Nkandla or the Johannesburg central police stations by this weekend in order to be delivered to a correctional centre where he will start serving a 15-month jail sentence, the Constitutional Court ruled on Tuesday.
Zuma sentenced to 15 months in jail for defying Zondo, Concourt
29 June 2021
Matshela Koko appears to have used an existing pre-suspension letter meant for one of his subordinates at Eskom as a template to draft his own ahead of the suspensions of March 2015that saw him and three other executive managers removed by the board. This was heard by the state capture commission on Monday, during the testimony of expert witness and digital forensic investigator, Lance Poon.
Digital forensic evidence places Koko in pre-suspension drama
30 June 2021
The commission of inquiry into state capture has by and large finished its oral evidence, save for a few witnesses who will be heard during the month of July, including President Cyril Ramaphosa. This has been confirmed by Deputy Chief Justice Raymond Zondo, who chairs the commission, as he led a press briefing on its work on Wednesday.
Reflections on inquiry’s work as Zondo (almost) wraps up
30 June 2021
The cross-examination of Noma Mngoma, the estranged wife of former cabinet minister Malusi Gigaba, was completed on Wednesday before the state capture commission. For the most part in her two-day testimony, Mngoma’s evidence was challenged by Gigaba’s lawyer, Advocate Richard Solomon, who declared to her that he would submit that aspects of it be declared inadmissible.
