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Gwede Mantashe
PHOTO: Felix Dlangamandla / Netwerk24
- Minister Gwede Mantashe told the state capture investigation that he did not know that Bosasa was paying for security improvements in their homes.
- Former Bosasa COO Angelo Agrizzi and employee Richard le Roux have testified that security cameras were installed at Mantashe homes.
- Mantashe claims he had no dealings with Agrizzi or Le Roux.
The Minister of Energy and Mineral Resources, Gwede Mantashe, told the Zondo commission that he did not know that Bosasa had paid for the security improvements at his home.
Mantashe appeared before the commission on Friday to testify about security updates at their homes in Boksburg and the Eastern Cape. He told the commission that his head of security, Mzonke Nyakaza, was in charge of overall security and was not aware of all the details of the agreements between him and Bosasa’s employee, Papa Leshabane.
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Former Bosasa COO Angelo Agrizzi and employee Richard le Roux previously testified before the commission that security cameras were installed at Mantashe homes.
Mantashe stated:
“When I read the affidavits from Le Roux and Agrizzi, there are a lot of things that I pick up on there. The price contradictions are one thing. Then I read the affidavit from Leshabane, which disputes both prices. Even if Leshabane was the one offering these cameras. , he would be the one who would know the prices. ”
Agrizzi previously testified that they had approached influential politicians and did them favors.
Mantashe, who was not a cabinet minister at the time of the improvements, told the commission that offering security to Leshabane while employed by Bosasa was not relevant at the time and that Leshabane was a “friend of the family.”
When asked if Leshabane’s offer to pay for security updates while a Bosasa employee didn’t bother him, he said:
“I had never had any interaction with Bossasa when Leshabane was a young man who came with other young people who were in my place. I would not see him as a representative of Bossasa.”
Mantashe told the commission that he had no dealings with Agrizzi or Le Roux in this regard and that they never sent him an invoice for the work done.
Also testifying was former Deputy Minister of Justice and Correctional Services Thabang Makwetla, who also received security updates after his Bossa home was robbed.
Makwetla said he met with the late Gavin Watson in 2016 and mentioned him in passing that his home had been burglarized and that Watson had offered his company services.
EXCLUSIVE | The images show how Bosasa installed security systems in Gwede Mantashe’s Eastern Cape home
“I called Gavin Watson to tell him that he has started work but he has not provided me with a quote, how much this job is going to cost, and he said, now I shouldn’t worry, when we meet he will explain to me. I could see that they were doing other things that I didn’t understand and a job that he didn’t ask for, so I really wanted to meet him instantly, ”he said.
Makwetla testified that when she met Watson, she was told not to worry about the payment.
“It not only surprised me, it surprised me. I thought he could appreciate that he couldn’t offer me a free service for the simple reason that he was doing business, as a company, with the department and I explained to him,” he said.
Makwetla told the commission that Watson told him to donate the money to a charity, but Makwetla expressed that he did not feel well doing so, so Watson had said he would send an invoice.
“He sent me an invoice for about R90,000, VAT included. When that bill came, I asked it … “
