Bosasa CEO Gavin Watson personally gave former president Jacob Zuma a bag with R300,000 cash in it and also approached him to have the investigation into the company’s contracts with the department of correctional services "shut down".
This is according to former Bosasa COO Angelo Agrizzi, who has been testifying for eight days at the state capture commission on widespread bribery and corruption relating to the firm’s multibillion-rand contracts with the government.
This was not the first time the commission heard about Watson’s relationship with the former president.
Last week, Agrizzi told deputy chief justice Raymond Zondo, who chairs the commission, that Watson was able to tell Zuma "what to do".
Agrizzi told the commission on Monday that the first time Watson was introduced to Zuma was when he was elected ANC president, but was not yet president of the country. The second introduction was made by former SAA chair Dudu Myeni, once he had become president of the country.
Agrizzi said Bosasa, which has since been renamed African Global Operations, was paying Myeni a sum of R300,000 a month, which was meant to go to the Jacob Zuma Foundation. Myeni, who is a known Zuma ally, was the chair of the foundation.
Agrizzi questioned whether the money was actually going to the former president himself.
"At one stage Watson was concerned that Zuma was not receiving the R300,000. Watson said we must pack it [the money] and he would deliver it himself and make sure he [Zuma] was getting the money from Myeni," Agrizzi said.
"He said he personally delivered it [the money] to Jacob Zuma, put the bag next to him and asked him the question, ‘Does Dudu Myeni give you your money every month?’ and the answer was yes."
Agrizzi said he did not think Zuma’s foundation was getting the monthly payments and that it was going straight to the former president.
He asked why, if the money was destined for the Jacob Zuma Foundation, it was being delivered in cash in a bag and not being paid through an electronic funds transfer.
At the same meeting, where Watson had allegedly delivered the money to Zuma, the investigation into Bosasa's transactions with the department of correctional services was discussed.
Agrizzi further told the commission how Myeni had provided a confidential National Prosecuting Authority (NPA) document to him and Watson at a meeting at the Sheraton Hotel in Pretoria.
He said Myeni told them that she had just come from a long meeting with the NPA and was working on getting the investigation into Bosasa closed down.
Myeni handed over documents, but said they could not make copies of them and would have to take notes. Agrizzi, however, took photographs of the documents without Myeni knowing.
"He [Watson] said, ‘Please this has to get shut down now, it has to be closed up’, while we were with Ms Myeni," Agrizzi said.
Myeni said that she would "work on it", he testified.
Agrizzi also told the commission about an incident when Myeni was given a Louis Vuitton handbag with R300,000 cash inside.
He said he knew she had received the bag because when he saw Myeni again, she thanked him for it.
Agrizzi said Bosasa organised high-end functions for Myeni and the Jacob Zuma Foundation and provided security services at her home.
"She was very important, she could swing deals. She was powerful," he said. Myeni was "close to the president and calls the shots", Agrizzi said.
In response to Agrizzi’s testimony, Myeni told eNCA that the former Bosasa COO was lying and called him a "racist, bitter man".
She also denied receiving a handbag or money from Watson or meeting him other than on an official visit to Bosasa’s prawn farm.
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