Mngxitama says he never got Bosasa bribes, slams ‘desperate’ list as fake
The list even includes the names of Malema, Shivambu, Zuma and even former apartheid-era president FW de Klerk.
Head of the corruption accused facilities management company, BOSASA, Angelo Agrizzi speaks at the State Capture Commission in Parktown, 16 January 2019. Picture – Neil McCartney
Leader of Black First Land First (BLF) Andile Mngxitama said in a statement on Tuesday that he had noticed his name on a list that has been circulating of people who allegedly took money from controversial facilities-management company Bosasa, now known as African Global Operations.
He slammed the list – which includes the names of some individuals who former Bosasa chief operating officer Angelo Agrizzi has indeed already implicated in allegedly taking bribes in order for Bosasa to continue to secure lucrative state tenders – as fake.
Fake news is known for mixing facts with fiction in the hope that this will make it more believable.
Mngxitama said it has become harder for him to publicise his views and corrections to public matters since he has been banned from Twitter, with any account he attempts to open on the social media platform only lasting for a while before also being shut down.
“I am currently banned from Twitter for no reason at all. Even after appealing the decision to suspend my account, I am still banned.
“It has come to my attention that my name appears on a fake list of people who are alleged to have benefited from the Bosasa corruption. I have never met or received any money from Bosasa and/or Angelo Agrizzi. He will not be naming me as a beneficiary of corruption or fraud. The list is fake and was created by desperate people.”
It is not the first message about Bosasa corruption – currently in the spotlight at the state capture commission – to be criticised for fakery that has been doing the rounds since this weekend. Another WhatsApp message claimed a Sunday Times journalist was asked to write untruths about Dudu Myeni, Hlaudi Motsoeneng and Nomvula Mokonyane.
That message has been comprehensively disproven.
The fake WhatsApp message also includes several other high-profile names, including the EFF’s Floyd Shivambu and Julius Malema, who have also not been named as yet in relation to Bosasa.
Even more extraordinarily, the name of former president FW de Klerk also appears.
A list doing the rounds claiming these are the beneficiaries of Bosasa bribes. The information has already been dismissed by some on it as completely false.
(Compiled by Charles Cilliers)
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