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- On Friday, former prison services portfolio committee chair Vincent Smith took the stand on the state arrest commission of inquiry.
- Smith testified about his relationship with Bosasa executives Gavin Watson and Angelo Agrizzi.
- He spoke about his dealings with them and the benefits he received. – including a sizeable loan and a rental car.
‘It was a loan from Agrizzi, not from Bosasa’
Speaking about a loan he received from the former Bosasa COO Angelo Agrizzi for a total of more than R600,000, Smith said the deal was made with Agrizzi personally and not with Bosasa.
READ | The loan agreement was with Angelo Agrizzi, not Bosasa, Vincent Smith testifies
The loan was for her daughter’s college tuition and was repaid in two separate payments in 2015 and 2016.
When asked by evidence defender Viwe Notshe why he borrowed money from “a company that is reportedly involved in corruption,” Smith replied that he did not borrow money from any company.
“There was a loan agreement between Angelo Agrizzi and me and there is correspondence via SMS,” Smith said.
He added that Agrizzi had asked him to help his unemployed son, saying “I do this all the time in my constituency.”
“My loan was with Angelo. Nowhere in the warehouse records is there any reference to Bosasa.
“I had gone to Angelo Agrizzi on the basis of the relationship we created. It was never a Bosasa agreement.”
Smith added that, under the terms of the contract, he would pay Agrizzi.
‘I should have declared it ‘
A section of Smith’s testimony focused on his inability to declare certain benefits awarded to him by Bosasa executives Agrizzi and the company’s late CEO Gavin Watson.
Of particular concern was the loan from Agrizzi, as well as a vehicle rented by Bosasa and loaned to Smith’s daughter.
The chairman of the commission, Vice President of the Supreme Court, Raymond Zondo, asked Smith if he thought about declaring this loan.
He agreed with Zondo that the loan should have been declared.
“Of course, someone who has listened to his evidence and heard Mr. Agrizzi’s version of this payment, could say that the reason he did not disclose it is because it was not a legitimate loan, there was no loan. If it was a loan that he considered legitimate, he would have easily disclosed it, “Zondo said.
Smith responded that “it could have been wrong”, but the transaction was reflected as a loan within the company.
Smith also said that he had approached Watson looking for a car that his daughter could use as a “small vehicle”, but did not know that it would be a car rented by Bosasa and not by Watson himself.
This too, Smith admitted, he did not declare to Parliament.
Bosasa’s meeting was normal
After a 2009 meeting between Smith and Bosasa officials, during a time when the company had received negative publicity, Smith told the commission that there was nothing wrong with this.
During this time, an investigation by the Special Investigation Unit (SIU) allegedly found that Bosasa had bribed senior officials within the Department of Correctional Services (DCS) in exchange for a tender from the department.
But Smith said that normally when a new president is elected, stakeholders come forward, and that was the purpose of this first meeting.
When asked if he wasn’t uncomfortable with this meeting, Smith said that he indicated to Watson that he would be uncomfortable if he met them on his own.
Information about what was happening at DCS
During questioning, attorney Moroka Phalane read out vague messages between Agrizzi and Watson that apparently implied that Smith had knowingly been involved in business with the two executives.
The messages, sent in 2016, apparently spoke of Smith asking the two to wait for something in anticipation of a meeting Smith was going to have with DCS officials.
In the message, Watson said that Smith requested that they continue preparations for a meeting.
Smith said that although he accepted that his name was mentioned in the messages, he had no knowledge of what the two were discussing.
“In response to your questions, at that time he was no longer the president [of the portfolio committee on correctional services]. The president at the time, I think, was my eldest.
“I would never undermine my superior by going to work with officials in a department where I am not the president. I understand what they are saying here, but I was not aware of what they were discussing,” Smith said.
While Zondo said the messages seem to suggest that Smith was working on something with the two of them, Smith said that in 2016, “there was nothing that he could have been working on. [on] with them”.
In an SMS from Watson to Agrizzi, he said: “When I said it is a meeting for Tuesday, to give us more information on how to approach this. That is why he is having a meeting to give us more information about what is taking place at DCS.” .
Agrizzi replied that at 08:30 “I need confirmed drafting documents, otherwise we will not meet the deadline.”
But Smith reiterated to Zondo that he did not meet with the officials mentioned in the messages in 2016.
Zondo said Agrizzi may need to provide more context for these messages.
READ ALSO | Zondo questions Vincent Smith about Agrizzi loan, car benefit that was not declared to Parliament
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