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Angelo Agrizzi’s testimony at the Zondo commission of inquiry into state capture has kept the county enthralled over the past two weeks.
He has detailed how Bosasa, his former employer, bribed a president and his ministers, as well as senior bureaucrats and executives of state-owned enterprises in return for lucrative government tenders running into billions of rands.
Agrizzi is not a messiah and he has made it patently clear that he partook in the dishing out of large sums of cash to those who needed to be bribed.
The commission has clearly opened the country’s eyes to the fact that the project of state capture was not orchestrated solely by the Gupta family.
At the end of its work, the commission will compile a report and write findings that will come with recommendations for President Cyril Ramaphosa to implement. But that is still a long way away. In the meantime, testimony that is being presented by Agrizzi clearly relates to criminal dealings and requires more than the commission’s attention.
Our supposed corruption-busting unit the Hawks and the National Prosecuting Authority seem to be sitting back and watching the proceedings at the inquiry without taking any action.
These agencies are tasked with investigating corruption, and it is their duty to pick up on the allegations coming to light during Agrizzi’s testimony and launch their own investigations with the purpose of bringing those implicated to book.
Those who received undue financial benefits, as Agrizzi claims, should face the full might of the law and answer to their alleged crimes.
Simply waiting for Deputy Chief Justice Raymond Zondo to make his findings could mean the perpetrators will be kept off the hook for years to come.
