My time will come and I will tell you what Agrizzi has done – Mokonyane

Environmental Affairs Minister Nomvula Mokonyane, among those who testimony at the state capture commission named as the alleged recipients of Bosasa bribes, has spoken highly of Bosasa CEO Gavin Watson.

Watson died in a horrific crash on Monday morning at the OR Tambo International Airport.

Mokonyane, who spoke at his memorial service on Friday, said if Deputy Chief Justice Raymond Zondo asked her how she knew Watson, she would answer to say she knew Watson as a freedom fighter.

“I will say they must ask Ronnie Watson. These are not the people who had ulterior motives; they gave their all.

“Why did I frequent the Bosasa office? I would say these offices were friendly with the ANC.”

She said her time would come to provide her version of events.

“My story will not be told through [News24 editor] Adriaan Basson or newspapers. My story will be told by yourselves,” she said to applause. “My time will come.”

Basson is writing a book on the company.

She said Gavin Watson “left” before Basson knew who he was.

She claimed the media only reported on the bad and the ugly.

Speaking to Watson’s family members and associates, Mokonyane said they were “hated with a passion” and claimed people had even “tried to kill us at one point… but we survived.”

Mokonyane said that those associated with Bosasa and Watson were persecuted because they believed in a just and fair society.

“They never loved you because of your conviction,” she said, adding that Watson had gone on to become a symbol of faith and pain.

“If your enemy is not happy, you must know you are in the right,” she added.

She compared Watson to Jesus Christ and Chris Hani.

“They broke racial barriers,” Mokonyane said, speaking about how the Watsons helped the ANC during apartheid.

Mokonyane again said she would one day tell her story – “not what Adriaan Basson wants to [say] in his book”.

She added that should Basson ask her how she came to know Watson, she would say: “I’ve come to know Gavin Watson as a freedom fighter … I have never distanced myself [from him].”

She explained that this was because the Bosasa offices were friendly to the ANC and funded the ANC during a time when it was unpopular for white people to do so.

“Capital has no friend. Capital is evil,” Mokonyane said.

She claimed Watson “was not a capitalist” but “a fighter”.

Only his creator could judge what he did with Agrizzi, she said, adding: “who are we to judge… there is a day called Judgment Day,” she said.

Watson had “done his bit”, Mokonyane added, saying it was his time to rest, but not sleep.

Basson is the author of a forthcoming book, Blessed by Bosasa , after investigating the company for 13 years.

“I sent Mokonyane a list of questions on Thursday and find it strange that she chose Watson’s memorial to criticise me instead of answering the questions. I still hope that she will contribute to my book,” Basson said in response.

Mokonyane warned the media to avoid reporting on the death of an individual before the family themselves knew, or “had time to collect themselves”.

She went on to criticise media and social media and said it was breaking “ubuntu.” She ridiculed reports of a relationship of “chicken and whisky”, which was how former Bosasa chief operating officer Angelo Agrizzi had, in part, testified about her. She said she looked forward to her time to provide her truth.

When the time came, Mokonyane said she would detail her relationship with Agrizzi.

“What he was doing with Agrizzi only the creator will judge. Love them all but trust no one.”

Mokonyane is alleged to have facilitated the use of part of Bosasa’s call centre for the West Rand ANC to campaign for the 2014 general elections, the Commission of Inquiry into State Capture heard.

She also allegedly received cash bribes from the company in a Louis Vuitton bag.

Bosasa’s former fleet manager and buyer, Frans Vorster, detailed how Watson insisted that Mokonyane be prioritised and her needs fulfilled by the company, which is now known as African Global Operations.

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