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Posts for May 2021
3 May 2021
Former Prasa CEO Lucky Montana used his appearance before the state capture commission on Monday to throw the ANC under the bus for its fundraising strategies, some of which he says come at a great cost to state-owned entities (SOEs). Montana said there is a long-standing culture in the ANC to use SOEs as bargaining tools for its activities and events, as its CEOs are often deployed at the behest of the party.
ANC milks SOEs for party activities, Zondo told
5 May 2021
Eskom’s payments to McKinsey & Co as well as Trillian Management Consultants in relation to the power utility’s turnaround strategy in 2016 once again came under the spotlight at the state capture commission on Tuesday.
Koko tells Zondo he had no part in in McKinsey, Trillian payments
5 May 2021
ANC deputy chairperson in KwaZulu-Natal, Mike Mabuyakhulu, says the only connection between him and the infamous ‘amigos’ corruption case, linked to a R144-million allegedly irregular procurement deal in the provincial government, is a figment of the imagination of a PwC forensic investigator. Trevor White, he says, needs to prove that he benefited from proceeds of the award.
PwC must prove I benefited from amigos money, says Mabuyakhulu
6 May 2021
Angelo Agrizzi was the de facto CEO of Bosasa, and every attempt he made to vilify Gavin Watson as a corrupt private businessman, during his state capture commission testimony in 2019, was because he wanted to use the potential collapse of Bosasa as a vehicle for his own business empire. Agrizzi, who was COO of Bosasa, wanted the company to get liquidated so that he could take over its contracts.
Agrizzi used commission for selfish business interests, Zondo told
6 May 2021
Businessman and former Armscor CEO Kevin Wakeford has denied all allegations made against him by former Bosasa COO Angelo Agrizzi and associate Frans Vorster, to the state capture commission. In his early 2019 testimony, Agrizzi positioned Wakeford as a conduit between both the Department of Home Affairs and later Sars, among other government institutions with which Bosasa had dealings.
Zondo told of Agrizzi’s lies to discredit business associate Wakeford
10 May 2021
None of the multi-million-rand properties investigated by the state capture commission as being bought by former Prasa GCEO Lucky Montana during his tenure at the rail agency were acquired with proceeds from corruption, he says. Montana returned for another day of testimony before the commission on Monday.
No properties bought with Prasa money, says Montana
11 May 2021
Former Prasa CEO Lucky Montana has asked that state capture commission evidence leader Advocate Vas Soni recuse himself. Soni has been leading evidence on Prasa since last year and has led Montana’s evidence on five occasions.
Remove biased evidence leader, Montana asks Zondo
12 May 2021
The work of regulating South Africa’s intelligence agency, the State Security Agency (SSA), has been a tough one for Inspector-General of Intelligence (IGI) Setlhomamaru Dintwe, who came into office in 2016. He completed his evidence before the state capture commission on Wednesday, having returned for a second appearance.
Intelligence regulator tells Zondo of “rot” in SSA
12 May 2021
Siyabonga Gama has told the state capture commission that in reading findings of investigative reports into Transnet’s locomotives tenders entered into between 2012 and 2015, it must appreciate the nuanced nature of the processes, and not just the conclusions that there was bad governance.
Investigations into Transnet contracts flawed, says Gama
13 May 2021
Former mineral resources minister Mosebenzi Zwane is adamant that trips he went on with Tony Gupta and Salim Essa, among others, while in the portfolio and as MEC before that, were official trips paid for by the government. This includes the October 2012 trip to India, on the same flight as a gospel choir from the Free State that he helped set up.
Zwane grilled on Gupta trips and Estina flaws
14 May 2021
Millions in cash for the politician in charge, theft of the state’s guns, and cash withdrawn at the drop of a hat for the ANC. These are some of the details the state capture commission heard from a secret witness known to the public only as “Dorothy.”
Zondo hears of rampant looting by spies
17 May 2921
Former acting Eskom GCEO Matshela Koko has denied that the Guptas paid for part of a holiday that he took with his family between December 2015 and January 2016. He appeared before the state capture commission on Monday evening.
Guptas didn’t pay for my Dubai holiday, Koko tells Zondo
17 May 2921
The state capture commission, says Matshela Koko, is caught up in a narrative that Eskom executives were captured because former public protector Thuli Madonsela was selective in the evidence she pursued, and took a side.
Glencore used Ramaphosa link to bully Eskom, says Koko
18 May 2021
Neither Anoj Singh nor Matshela Koko paid for their trips to Dubai, arranged by Lenasia travel agency, Travel Excellence, in 2014 and 2016 respectively. They were charged to and paid for by Gutpa associate Salim Essa, according to the evidence of two travel agents.
Trips by govt execs paid for by Guptas
18 May 2021
Former National Assembly speaker Baleka Mbete says the first deliberations over the establishment of a commission to look into allegations of corruption in state institutions happened in parliament. This was when presiding officers in the National Assembly were considering approaches to deal with the allegations that were emerging in 2016.
Mbete: first talk of inquiry happened in Parly
19 May 2021
Former acting Eskom GCEO Matshela Koko, who returned to the commission on Wednesday, challenged commission chairperson Deputy Chief Justice Raymond Zondo to conduct lifestyle audits on a team in the primary energy division (PED) of Eskom, just as he had undergone one. He accused the PED team, responsible for coal sourcing, of colluding with Optimum Coal Mine and misleading the board over the true nature of the situation with penalties owed to it by the mine, among other issues.
Koko challenges Zondo to probe inquiry’s “favourite” Eskom witnesses
19 May 2021
The latest warning for the state capture commission to avoid being used as a political tool has come from former state security minister David Mahlobo, who appeared before it on Wednesday evening. Mahlobo praised the commission for its work, but warned against what he called peddling of information from the intelligence sector, for political agendas.
Mahlobo: intelligence witnesses lied for political reasons
20 May 2021
Former state security minister David Mahlobo allegedly boasted to members of the State Security Agency that he knew intelligence, after only three weeks of training, when he took office in 2014, according to secret witness “Steven”, an acting deputy director-general within the SSA.
Incompetent Mahlobo cost SSA millions, says spy
20 May 2021
A second secret witness from the State Security Agency has confirmed to the state capture commission that there were projects housed in the ministry of state security that fell under the chief directorate of special operations led by Thulani Dlomo.
State security ministry received cash from SSA
21 May 2021
Former cabinet minister Malusi Gigaba will get to cross examine his estranged wife, Noma Mngoma – formerly Gigaba – before the state capture commission on a date still to be decided. Chairperson Deputy Chief Justice Raymond Zondo granted permission on Friday, following Mngoma’s final testimony on Gigaba’s alleged corrupt relationship with the Gupta family, among other issues.
The Gigabas go head to head before Zondo
21 May 2021
Former public enterprises minister Malusi Gigaba kicked off his testimony on Friday by answering a question on how many times during his term he visited the Gupta home in Saxonwold, with the words: “The most important thing chairperson is not how many times you meet a friend or acquaintance, the most important thing is what you do with them … I had no business dealings with them.”
21 May 2021
Did former communications minister Faith Muthambi irregularly consult with the Guptas on government policy in her new role as communications minister in 2014? She told the state capture commission no when she appeared on Friday evening.
Muthambi quizzed on Gupta emails
24 May 2021
The cost of state capture to the South African government by the Guptas was on Monday placed at R49-billion by forensic investigator Paul Holden who appeared before the state capture commission to give evidence related to the money flows stream. Holden is a director at Shadow World Investigations, which is based in London.
R50bn state capture bonanza for the Guptas
24 May 2021
Former Eskom CFO Anoj Singh has told the state capture commission that the decision by the power utility to make a R659-milion pre-payment to Gupta-owned Tegeta Exploration and Resources in 2016 was underpinned by an urgent need for Eskom to maintain coal supply for their mines.
Singh grilled on Tegeta pre-payment
25 May 2021
President Cyril Ramaphosa will be the last state capture commission witness to give oral evidence, on 31 May and 1 June. Commission chairperson Deputy Chief Justice Raymond Zondo made this announcement on Tuesday morning.
Cyril will be last Zondo witness
25 May 2021
The deputy minister of state security and ANC NEC member Zizi Kodwa allegedly lived up a storm in luxury holiday spots in Cape Town at the end of 2015, months after purchasing a luxury vehicle, enjoying kickbacks from ICT giant EOH in return for his influence in the company getting lucrative state contracts. This happened during his tenure as ANC spokesperson.
Kodwa lived it up in style, bankrolled by state contractor
25 May 2021
Former Eskom chairperson Zola Tsotsi lied to the state capture commission about Jacob Zuma interfering in the power utility’s affairs in March 2015. His then counterpart at South African Airways (SAA), Dudu Myeni, told this to the commission on Tuesday.
No Zuma in Eskom meeting, says Myeni
26 May 2021
Tom Moyane says he did not purge executives of the South African Revenue Service (Sars) who opposed him when he arrived there in September 2014, and his removal from his position as commissioner four years later was not for failure to carry out his duties, but because he himself was purged.
Moyane: Nugent followed script to oust me
27 May 2021
Salim Essa may have garnered a massive 21% stake in Transnet’s R54-billion procurement for 1 064 locomotives in 2014, but former GCFO Anoj Singh says he was none the wiser, and was not aware of the looting that happened on behalf of the Gupta enterprise. Singh returned before the state capture commission on Thursday.
Singh pleads ignorance of Guptas’ role in Transnet locos tender looting
27 May 2021
The appointment of Brian Molefe as GCEO of Transnet in early 2011, though he was not the board’s preferred candidate, came under the spotlight at the state capture commission on Thursday evening. Former minister of public enterprises Malusi Gigaba took the stand once again.
Gigaba admits flaws in Molefe appointment as Transnet CEO
27 May 2021
The battle of the exes continued before the state capture commission on Thursday evening as it heard more of the evidence of former cabinet minister Malusi Gigaba.
Mngoma is a liar of note, Gigaba tells Zondo
27 May 2021
Former cabinet minister Malusi Gigaba says he never discussed business with the Guptas while he was minister, as the executive is barred from doing so, and is sworn to secrecy on government matters. He returned before the state capture commission on Thursday evening.
Gigaba: I never discussed government business with Guptas
28 May 2021
Former Transnet CFO Anoj Singh drew a blank when asked by the state capture commission on Friday why there was a confidentiality condition attached to four contracts concluded with McKinsey and Regiments Capital under confinement in 2014. The contracts are suspected to have been unbundled to avoid their consolidated value oF R619-million being questioned by the board, and were awarded over a period of four days.
Singh fails to explain confinement deals with McKinsey, Regiments
31 May 2021
The allegation that Malusi Gigaba facilitated the early naturalisation of some members of the Gupta family while he was minister of home affairs is a lie, as are many others told to the state capture commission by his estranged wife Noma Mngoma.
Gupta naturalisation claim another ruse by Mngoma, says Gigaba
31 May 2021
Did the four confidential confinements to McKinsey, awarded in March and April 2014for four separate projects, have Transnet’s best interests at heart? Former CFO of Transnet Anoj Singh once again failed to convince the state capture commission that they did.
