In this interview on Rational Radio, Valence Watson shares some unanswered questions raised through the family’s investigation into the death of his eldest brother Gavin, founder of the controversial Bosasa. He points to an unexplained half hour between when Gavin left his Krugersdorp apartment and when his vehicle was wrapped against a concrete bridge support near the OR Tambo airport. And tells us about the pathologist’s report which shows Gavin was dead before the accident, deepening the mystery around an apparent suicide that the facts now suggest most definitely wasn’t. – Alec Hogg
A warm welcome to Valence Watson the brother of the late Gavin Watson. There’s been lots of airplay again about Gavin’s passing, but let’s just go back a little bit. The family has been very confused since Gavin’s passing. You weren’t making any assumptions but you did say you’d be investigating. What exactly did you guys do to try and get more clarity on this?
___STEADY_PAYWALL___
Well Alec, the two things that we did was hire a crash investigator and a pathologist.We’ve had some feedback but there hasn’t been a full report – plus the toxicology.
Your brother lived in Krugersdorp yet his body was found was at OR Tambo. Have you been able to establish his movements that Monday morning?
No and that’s the question. The media immediately said he didn’t have a cell phone on him which is not true. He did have a cell phone clearly, but it was located at places other than where the accident happened. It’s 27 minutes from his place in Krugersdorp to the airport and from what we can gather, at seven minutes past four he left the apartment and the accident occurs at five past five.
How do you know that he left at seven minutes past? Are there cameras?
Yes. There’s a guard at the gate. That’s indisputable.
That he left at seven minutes past four and the accident happened at five minutes past five. It should have taken 27 minutes to get to the airport and so over 30 minutes has gone missing.
Any idea what happened? There are trackers on cars nowadays, are you able to access that and get some understanding now?
This was a company vehicle – Gavin’s X5 that he used was seized by the liquidators some months ago – he was driving one of the other cars. Our accident investigators will be looking at all of those things.
So he left his home at seven minutes past four. It should have taken 27 minutes. There’s a half hour that’s gone. Were there any eyewitnesses ? Obviously it’s early in the morning but someone must have been around.
Accounts don’t gel with the accident investigator. One of the eyewitnesses says that he was driving recklessly at a very high speed and he was accelerating. But the accident investigator says the information that he was given was that for five seconds before the impact the vehicle was driving at between 80 to 100 kilometres an hour and there was no acceleration. It completely refutes that claim.
And any idea where he was in that half hour? Any evidence?
No absolutely not. That’s the reason why we’re trying to locate his cell phone which at one stage was located in Germiston. We got people to rush there and then it moved to Bryanston East. I was sleeping in Johannesburg at the time, so I was part of a group that went to Bryanston and we couldn’t find it. It would show a 50 meter perimeter of where it was. They do it with the towers around, but by the next morning the signal had gone.
What about at the actual scene of the accident?
We don’t know exactly what happened there, but it is a little odd that the vehicle was taken away by the cops. It was dismantled in no time whatsoever and that would negate the other things that happened. For instance there was a big gash on his neck. We don’t yet know what the gash was from. But maybe if the car was intact you’d have some sort of idea. But we have no information about what caused the gash. And it’s quite a bad gash.
And what about other evidence that the forensic medical investigators got?
Both of the people interacting with the family completely negate that it was self-inflicted. There were indications that the heart wasn’t functioning because if it was, there would have been a substantial amount of blood pumped into the chest cavity. The impact of the airbag you would have caused abrasions on the arms which would have looked like grass burns. These weren’t evident which means that the heart wasn’t pumping blood at the time.
Wow. So he died before?
Yes. Absolutely. The popular media as you heard me say has been incredibly vicious and no one is asking the right questions. I’m the executor of the estate and we thought he had a life policy like most people. He canceled his life insurance a few months ago. This is someone that’s expecting a long life because we come from a family that has longevity in their genes.
What else was in the estate – given that he’s been painted as this guy who ripped off the state and taxpayers off to the tune of hundred of thousands?
Well, that is the tragedy really. I haven’t even opened the envelope that was given to me – only a few days ago – and I just haven’t had the the inclination to open it. What I’ve been told is his house in Port Elizabeth is fully paid up. It was bought in 1997 and it’s about 300 meters away from my house. Other than that, there’s some money in the bank account. It definitely doesn’t amount to the the R500m they’ve be talking about – in a Guernsey account – according to some nefarious people out there. That’s his worldly possessions.
Roughly how much? Ten million, five million, Hundred million?
No, no. I wish for his family it was that. From what can I gather, his life insurance was a fairly substantial one. I don’t know the full amount but it would have made it very comfortable for his kids and his wife. But that’s not the case. There’s definitely not millions around. Absolutely not.
He canceled his life insurance policy. His heart stopped beating some time presumably before he had the accident. You’ve got to have real strange questions going around in your head. What are they?
We’ve been around a little while. Nothing shocks us. The previous government tried to have my brother Ronnie bumped off in Gaborone many years ago. So we can put nothing past those elements that still exist in this society. We’re not going to have any specific view until we have all the facts and we’re not going to point fingers or say anything until we have all the facts. There’s a certain element of this society that has hated us from from the mid 70s and still do so.
When are you expecting the facts to be available?
I’m sure – within the next few weeks – but I don’t know whether it’ll ever be answered – what was on his cell phone at 27 minutes past 4am. We know that he was on WhatsApp, he was going to the airport, the airport is on the opposite side of town to where he lived. Jared lives in Morningside and he was going to meet Jared at about half past seven with his final input into the SARS inquiry on the Tuesday morning.
Has that input been made in his absence?
No I don’t think so. But it’s all done, it was ready to be presented by him.
Valence Watson the brother of the late Gavin Watson – founder and chief executive of Bosasa – a story that has gripped South Africa for months now. And it’s not going away anytime soon.
