If it is possible for criminals to buy their way out of going to court, the criminal justice system will collapse, and rogues will further abuse the law to their own benefit, writes Adriaan Basson.
Is anyone surprised that former president Jacob Zuma isexpected to be implicated by Angelo Agrizzi in Bosasa's nest of corruption?
I am certainly not. Zuma has showed himself over decades tobe a politician for sale.
First the Shaiks, then the Guptas and now the Watsons,allegedly. Zuma does not discriminate against any benefactors who are willingto buy his political influence at the right price.
READ: Adriaan Basson - Bosasa and I
The biggest shock for me of the files Agrizzi is reportedlygoing to drop at the Zondo Commission into state capture over the next few daysis the allegation that senior prosecutors were paid to let Bosasa off the hook.
As News24 reported on Sunday Agrizzi is expected to testify this week that senior prosecutors Nomgcobo Jibaand Lawrence Mrwebi, together with National Prosecuting Authority (NPA) seniorstaffer Jackie Lepinka were bribed by Bosasa to make the corruption caseagainst them disappear.
All three strongly deny they were bribed and Agrizzi'sallegations will have to be tested through corroboration and cross-examination.
The case against Bosasa concerns the paying of bribes toformer prisons boss Linda Mti, his financial chief Patrick Gillingham andothers to obtain outsourcing contracts of over R2bn from correctional services.
If it's true that NPA employees accepted bribes to delay andeventually kill off the case, it is the worst perversion of the rule of lawthis country has seen since the advent of democracy.
I have been trying to figure out for ten years why Bosasa,its CEO Gavin Watson and people like Agrizzi, who were essentially operating atender racket fronting as a legitimate company, have not seen the inside of acourtroom.
While people like Jeff Radebe and Michael Masutha bandiedabout figures to supposedly show how South Africa was winning the war againstcorruption, the Bosasa case died a slow and silent death.
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Various explanations were forthcoming: the Hawks draggedtheir feet to finalise a forensic report; the first prosecutor assigned to thecase was too slow; the Special Investigating Unit's report needed more evidencegathering, etcetera.
Even if some of these reasons were true, there is no excusefor this case taking longer than ten years to get court-ready. The SIU report,which I have read numerous times, has direct evidence of fraud, corruption, defeatingthe ends of justice and racketeering that should have formed the bedrock of anNPA prosecution.
Unfortunately, it seems that the reasons for the delay weremore sinister.
The real picture emerging from Agrizzi's testimony istwo-fold: firstly, it was in the interests of any ANC politician to keep thecase out of court. Bosasa's net of corruption was spread far and wide and itwould have brought down too many comrades to give any credence to the party'ssupposed stance against corruption.
Secondly, senior NPA players may have been bribed. Agrizziis expected to testify how Lepinka, a former personal assistant in the officeof consecutive national directors of public prosecutions, received money fromMti to distribute to Jiba and Mrwebi.
Mti was at the centre of Bosasa's capture of thecorrectional services department.
Mti and Lepinka are close and the allegation is that sheprovided Bosasa with insights into the NPA's progress reports on their caseagainst the company.
If this is true, Lepinka should face the full wrath of thelaw.
It is unclear at this stage whether Agrizzi has corroboratingevidence to prove that bribes were indeed paid to "snake" (Jiba),"snail" (Mrwebi) and "Jay" (Lepinka), but the commissionhas so far mainly focused on his version where other evidence exists.
A strong and trusted NPA is at the heart of a functioningdemocracy. If it is possible for criminals to buy their way out of going tocourt, the criminal justice system will collapse, and rogues will further abusethe law to their own benefit.
The Zondo commission should probe to the bone why the Bosasacase had gone nowhere in ten years. Jiba and Mrwebi are facing a separate inquiryinto their fitness, but it would greatly assist Zondo's work if they couldexplain why the case stalled with them in charge.
And advocate Shamila Batohi, who starts as the new nationaldirector of public prosecutions in less than two weeks, should use this case asa textbook example of how the NPA should not run its business.
- Basson is editor-in-chief of News24.
