DA’s Breytenbach denies being Agrizzi’s ‘close friend’

Democratic Alliance (DA) MP Glynnis Breytenbach has denied being one of the “high-ranking DA members” former Bosasa COO Angelo Agrizzi allegedly claimed he was “close friends with”.

This after Alec Hogg published a file of information provided by late Bosasa CEO Gavin Watson’s nephew, forensic accountant Jared Watson.

The files, as well as a story published by Hogg, paint a picture of Agrizzi allegedly being the real mastermind behind Bosasa corruption. The report further alleges that Agrizzi plotted to pin this corruption on Watson, with his testimony earlier this year at the commission of inquiry into state capture alleged to be the “final piece in a carefully co-ordinated plan more than a decade in the making”.

Agrizzi dismissed the evidence provided by Watson in a report in The Citizen released on Thursday morning, saying he couldn’t discuss it in further detail as his lawyer had asked him not to communicate with the media.

As part of Watson’s files, a screenshot from a video is provided showing Breytenbach at Agrizzi’s home in Fourways, playing with Romeo, the former COO’s pet monkey.

According to the Watson files, “Agrizzi purported to be close friends of high-ranking DA members”, and provided the video as evidence of this.

While Breytenbach admits to meeting with Agrizzi, she says this was “in the course of” her work as a DA MP, adding that he “supplied information regarding corruption at Bosasa”.

“Mr Agrizzi contacted me in late 2018, I think, in order to supply information regarding corruption at Bosasa,” she said.

READ MORE: Why the Watsons and Bosasa kept their silence

“I met him one time with [DA MP] Dr Annelie Lotriet and two times with Werner Horn MP.

“These types of meetings happen on an almost daily basis with whistleblowers and accomplices, and the information gathered, once verified, is used in the course of our work in holding government and officials to account,” Breytenbach said.

“Mr Agrizzi asked for legal advice, which we declined to supply and advised him to see an attorney.”

Breytenbach dismissed the insinuation that she was in any way friends with Agrizzi.

“If Mr Agrizzi has ‘high ranking friends’ – whatever that is supposed to mean – in the DA, then I am not one of them. Neither could I by any stretch of the imagination be regarded as ‘high ranking’. We are not ‘close’.

“Mr Hogg has never had the courtesy of requesting any comment from me, and clearly reaches his conclusions with little regard for the true facts.”

The information about the meetings Breytenbach had with Agrizzi is part of the “Watson files” compiled by Jared Watson, which Hogg published in their entirety. Hogg at no point, however, indicated whether the allegations of Agrizzi’s “high ranking” friendships within the DA were true. Breytenbach’s name was not included in the report Hogg published along with Watson’s documentary evidence, which he said he released in the public interest.

They files are part of what Gavin would have presented to an SA Revenue Service (Sars) inquiry into his tax affairs if he had not died in a mysterious car crash on the morning of August 26.

Hogg’s report claims that “Gavin Watson lived in a two bedroom apartment in Krugersdorp and drove a relatively modest car. His accuser occupies the opulent Palazzio Agrizzi in Fourways, owns a fleet of supercars including five Ferraris, an extremely valuable art collection and numerous expensive properties in SA and Italy”.

Agrizzi has denied this, telling The Citizen that he “only” has one Ferrari, a 2000 model 360 Modena, and has no properties in Italy. He also denied being a fine art collector.

Breytenbach, when asked if she’s aware of how much wealth Agrizzi has and how he accumulated it, said: “It is very clear that any measure of wealth accumulated by Mr Agrizzi derives from his association with Bosasa and the obviously corrupt business practices they followed. I understood this to be the essence of his testimony at the Zondo Commission and I also understood Mr Agrizzi to not dispute those facts. My thoughts on the matter must be irrelevant, since Mr Agrizzi set it out in some detail.”

Horn confirmed having met with Agrizzi at his home, but said he is far from a close friend, as these were the only times they had met.

“He indicated that he wanted to share information with the DA on the now well publicised manner in which Bosasa operated and to get advice from us,” he said.

READ MORE: Angelo Agrizzi to publicly apologise for false testimony at commission

“The first meeting took a few hours, while the second meeting was merely to collect documents.”

“Our ‘advice’ at the conclusion of the first meeting was that as Mr Agrizzi (on his own version) was deeply involved with the corrupt activities of Bosasa, he should consult with his own lawyers to assist him when he share information with the SAPS and/or NPA but that he (in our view) could not escape from having to face the consequences of his own actions.

“We have had no other contact with each other since then. We are therefore neither friends, nor ‘close’.

“While Mr Hogg, to my understanding, based his ‘report’ on a document which the late Mr Gavin Watson apparently was to file with the Sars inquiry, it seems that it suited his purposes not to verify any of the information related to Ms Breytenbach and myself with us before publishing it,” Horn said.

As for Jared’s evidence, Horn says while it “is for our law enforcement agencies and the courts to decide who played what role in the operations of Bosasa”, we shouldn’t necessarily take what’s in the Watson files as gospel.

“It seems clear to me that there is much truth in the saying that there is no honour among thieves,” he said.

Lotriet also denied any friendship with Agrizzi and said she had never been to his home. The meeting between Breytenbach, Agrizzi and herself took place at a hotel in Pretoria.

“The only knowledge that I have of Agrizzi is what I have heard at the Zondo commission and in the media,” she said.

UPDATE: This article was updated with DA MP Werner Horn’s comment, 12:07, September 26. 

(Background reporting, Charles Cilliers)

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