Big test for Ramaphosa as Mantashe fingered by Zondo

A probe into state corruption in South Africa found that senior ANC officials received illicit payments from services company Bosasa, leaving President Cyril Ramaphosa in a quandary over how to respond.

Bosasa, subsequently renamed African Global Operations, paid the bribes in order to win lucrative state contracts, acting chief justice Raymond Zondo said in a report released on Tuesday night. Witnesses testified before the panel that the company gave money to former President Jacob Zuma, and paid for home security upgrades for mineral & energy affairs Minister Gwede Mantashe and Nomvula Mokonyane, a former water minister and member of the ANC’s executive committee.

Zondo instructed law-enforcement agencies to conduct further investigations into Zuma, Mantashe and Mokonyane with a view to prosecuting them on corruption charges. He found that Zuma and Mokonyane breached the constitution. All three have denied any wrongdoing.

“Corruption was Bosasa’s way of doing business,” Zondo said. “It bribed politicians, government officials, President Jacob Zuma and others extensively.”

While Ramaphosa has pledged to clamp down on the graft that became endemic during Zuma’s almost nine-year rule and implement Zondo’s recommendations, disciplining or firing some of those implicated will be politically tricky. The president is widely expected to stand for re-election as leader of the ANC in December, and alienating key officials and their constituencies could feed into his party-rivals’ hands.

The findings against Mantashe are particularly problematic for Ramaphosa. As chairman of the ANC, the minister is one of the party’s top officials and taking decisive action again him could turn him into a powerful adversary.

‘Prima facie case’

“The evidence that stands is that Mr Mantashe was seen by the leadership of Bosasa as a ‘brilliant connection’,” although there was no evidence of the company seeking to influence a particular official through him, Zondo said. “There is a reasonable prospect that further investigation will uncover a prima facie case against Mr Mantashe in respect of the offence of corruption.”

Ramaphosa has previously opted for a soft touch. In 2018, he refrained from firing Malusi Gigaba as his home affairs minister after a court found he’d lied under oath and a compromising video of him was circulated on social media, allowing him to resign instead.

He did the same last year, when former health minister Zweli Mkhize was embroiled in a tender scandal. He also reassigned several ministers in the wake of riots in July last year that left 354 dead. The only one to lose their cabinet post was then-defence minister Nosiviwe Mapisa-Nqakula — and she was promoted to speaker of the national assembly.

Much of the testimony on Bosasa was given to Zondo by Angelo Agrizzi, its chief operating officer, who recounted how stacks of cash were handed over to top officials, including Zuma, in exchange for tenders and protection from prosecution. Gavin Watson, who was the company’s CEO, orchestrated most of the illicit deals, according to Agrizzi, who resigned from Bosasa in 2016.

It subsequently emerged that Watson, who died in a car accident in 2020, personally gave R500 000 to Ramaphosa’s campaign to win control of the ANC in late 2017 — an added complication for the president. While public protector Busisiwe Mkhwebane said in a 2019 report that Ramaphosa deceived parliament about the payment and instructed legislators to censure him for violating the constitution and the executive ethics code, the high court overturned her findings.

Zondo didn’t look into the payment.

Ramaphosa has estimated that more than R500-billion was stolen from the government and state companies during Zuma’s tenure. Zondo has confirmed there was widespread looting of taxpayer funds and that members of the Gupta family, who were Zuma’s friends and in business with one of his sons, were among the primary beneficiaries. The Guptas, who left South Africa for Dubai, also deny wrongdoing.

Zuma is currently facing trial for taking bribes from weapons dealers in the 1990s. The ANC forced him to step down in early 2018 to stem a loss of electoral support and replaced him with his deputy, Ramaphosa.

• * Zondo cleared one of Ramaphosa’s sons, Andile, of wrongdoing in relation to his business dealings with Bosasa, saying allegations made against him didn’t implicate him in any unlawful conduct.
• There was a “prima facie case of corruption” against Dudu Myeni, who chaired Zuma’s foundation and received payments from Bosasa, said the judge. He referred the matter to the appropriate authorities for further investigation and prosecution. Myeni, who was also implicated in wrongdoing in an earlier Zondo report that related to her tenure as the chairwoman of South African Airways, has denied wrongdoing.
• A further investigation was ordered into the conduct of senior ruling party lawmaker Cedric Frolick, who was also implicated in receiving illicit payments. He has also denied wrongdoing.

The panel will release three more reports by the end of next month.  —  Mike Cohen and S’thembile Cele, (c) 2022 Bloomberg LP