Angelo Agrizzi, former COO of Bosasa, a company that had contracts with government institutions, testifies at the Commission of Inquiry into State Capture investigating alleged corruption under ex-president Jacob Zuma. AFP/WIKUS DE WET
The South African Human Rights Commission has announced it intends to initiate legal proceedings against former Bosasa COO Angelo Agrizzi in the Equality Court for admitting to being racist following a recording of him calling black people the k-word.
The commission said it would seek an order for payment of damages and another for directing the clerk of the Equality Court to submit the matter to the director of public prosecutions.
“The commission finds this conduct particularly egregious, hurtful, uncalled for, and it is the kind of instance which would embolden like-minded individuals if no action is taken or sanction is meted out. The commission believes that Mr Agrizzi has engaged in hate speech which accentuates the chasms that were fostered before 1994 and which undermines the aspirations of our constitutional democracy.”
At the Zondo commission of inquiry into state capture on Wednesday, Agrizzi admitted to racism.
Audio in which Agrizzi is heard using the k-word several times was first leaked and reported on late last year by City Press, before the former COO was the household name he has now become following his ongoing testimony at the commission.
Agrizzi claimed the slur was said at a meeting which took place at his house between himself and family members of former Bosasa CEO Gavin Watson. He also claimed they coaxed him into saying what he did in the clip, recording it purposefully to discredit him.
He said he was ”half asleep” during the meeting with Watson’s nephew Jared, who brought along Gavin’s two children, Lindsay and Roth. Agrizzi told the commission he had earlier consumed alcohol after working through the night.
Evidence leader Paul Pretorius said the commission’s legal team described Agrizzi’s utterances in the clip as ”nakedly racist and grossly offensive”.
As the commission began to play the clip, Agrizzi expressed his embarrassment.
“I am embarrassed and ashamed of myself,” he said. “I am a racist, I agree.”
(Compiled by Vhahangwele Nemakonde. Additional reporting by Daniel Friedman)
Read more: UPDATE: ‘I’m a racist’ – Agrizzi
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