State capture commission secretary was one of a group who received a R2m bribe – Agrizzi

Continuing to give testimony at the commission of inquiry into state capture on Monday, former Bosasa COO Angelo Agrizzi said the name of the commission’s secretary, Dr Khotso De Wee, was given to him as one of the recipients of bribes given to the department of correctional services.

While noting that he did not know if De Wee personally received payments, Agrizzi alleged he was told that De Wee was “very angry” after Agrizzi was late with packing an amount of more than R2 million.

This amount, according to Agrizzi, was for a group of people, one of which was De Wee.

According to Agrizzi, Sesinyi Seopela, a former bodyguard for ANC Youth League chairperson Peter Mokaba, was the one who collected the bribes for the department of correctional services.

The former COO says he gave over this money, which was usually R500,000 a month but was later increased to R750,000, to Seopela at places including filling stations, restaurants, hotels and deserted roads.

READ MORE: State capture secretary Dr Khotso De Wee takes special leave

Agrizzi says that Seopela informed him that De Wee was angry over late payment, this being the only source of his testimony regarding the state capture commission secretary’s involvement.

De Wee took special leave last week after the commission announced it will be investigating allegations that he was paid by Bosasa.

This followed testimony by former Bosasa chief operating officer (COO) Angelo Agrizzi on Friday, where he said he had been told that De Wee was one of the senior officials at the department of justice and constitutional development who was paid bribes by the company in regard to a 2013 tender for the establishment of security system in various courts across the country.

In the statement issued by the chair of the commission following reports of these allegations, Deputy Chief Justice Raymond Zondo said: “Mr Agrizzi states that Dr De Wee was the COO of the department at the time. However, Mr Agrizzi states that he has ‘no other information to confirm the correctness of this report’.”

In the statement, Zondo said after he notified De Wee of the allegations, the commission’s secretary denied receiving any payment from Bosasa or any persons from the company.

Zondo said the commission was now investigating these allegations and that, in light of the seriousness of these allegations, De Wee had offered to go on special leave pending the outcome of the investigation.

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