Right of Reply. DA justice expert told Agrizzi: You should do 30 years’ jail for corruption

As President Cyril Ramaphosa turned up the heat on corruption, Angelo Agrizzi re-styled himself as a state capture whistle-blower. He came forward to accuse incompetent SAA chair Dudu Myeni of accepting R300,000 bribes from himself and his work associate Gavin Watson, of Bosasa – a company that generated revenue off prisons' contracts. Agrizzi, Bosasa COO, also turned on Bosasa CEO Gavin Watson, who died last month in a mysterious car crash, painting him as an evil-doer. The Bosasa Files – published on BizNews – indicate that DA public representatives went to the Agrizzi home for tea and a play with a pet monkey. The DA has explained why its former Shadow Minister of Justice, Glynnis Breytenbach, a former National Prosecuting Authority advocate, was photographed at the Agrizzi home, with a monkey. With her was the DA's Werner Horn, who also took to the monkey. The DA also responds to allegations of links between DA associates and a business established by Agrizzi's son, Giancarlo. – Jackie Cameron

1. What is the DA link – directly through the organisation and indirectly through individuals who work for, represent and are affiliated – to the Agrizzi family?
   We can find no such link.
2. Has the DA ever received any donations or assistance of any kind from the Agrizzi family or any related companies? How much money has been received? Specifically for what?
   Unless compelled by legislation or an order of court, the DA does not, as a matter of policy, disclose its donors. This is to protect them from very real prejudice from government.
3. What is your response to the apparent link between two DA employees and the Agrizzi family?
   Public Representatives of the DA are not 'employees'. Mr Mphithi and Ms Selowa met Mr Giancarlo Agrizzi while students at the University of Witwatersrand. They jointly established a company known as Indlala. Both Mr Mphithi and Ms Selowa became directors of this company. My information is that both resigned their directorships, Mr Mphithi late in 2014, and Ms Selowa in early 2015. Both Mr Mphithi and Ms Selowa did no work for the company.
   
4. How does the DA reconcile the role of Mphithi and Selowa in state work? See the conflicting points in the Bosasa files – Agrizzi says the company that involves DA employees is not involved in state work, but their LinkedIn profiles seem to suggest they do benefit from state work. Please clarify the facts for us.
   Please see above. I am not sure how much reliance one ought to place on LinkedIn Profiles, which may not be current.
5. What was Glynnis Breytenbach doing at Agrizzi's house? What was the nature of the visit? Is this Breytenbach (please see the picture, here: https://www.biznews.com/wp-content/uploads/2019/09/035_Breytembach-a-the-home-of-Agrizzi.pdf) – and what is the exact location that this picture was taken? Please clarify the relationship between Breytenbach and the Agrizzi family and their entities.
6. What was Werner Horn doing at Agrizzi's house (apart from playing with his monkey – see picture: https://www.biznews.com/wp-content/uploads/2019/09/036_Horn-a-the-home-of-Agrizzi.pdf)? What was the nature of his visit?
7. Who else in the DA – political representatives and employees – has visited the Agrizzi home and why?
   Glynnis Breytenbach has had three meetings with Mr Angelo Agrizzi. The first was during the hearing of the Joint Ad Hoc Committee into possible amendments to section 25 of the Constitution in late 2018. On that occasion, Mr Agrizzi made contact with Adv Breytenbach and met her, with Dr Annelie Lotriet, at another venue than Mr Agrizzi's house. He gave the two colleagues a synopsis of the evidence he led at the Zondo Commission. Adv Breytenbach asked him whether he had any corroborative documentation to back up his claims. He said that he did, but that it was on his computer at his house. The second occasion was a meeting at Mr Agrizzi's house attended by Mr Agrizzi, some of his family, Mr van Tonder, Adv Breytenbach, Mr Horn and Adv Breytenbach's bodyguard. During this meeting* Mr Agrizzi produced some but not all of the documents purporting to substantiate his claims;* Adv Breytenbach told Mr Agrizzi, his wife and daughter, Mr van Tonder, Mr Horn and the bodyguard that Mr Agrizzi was heavily involved in corruption and that, had she been a prosecutor, she would have sought a sentence of not less than 30 years; and Mr Horn played with the monkey. Mr Agrizzi was not able to download all the documentation before Adv Breytenbach and Mr Horn had to leave. Mr Agrizzi undertook to transfer the remainder to a memory stick. The third occasion was to collect this memory stick. Adv Breytenbach and Mr Horn visited Mr Agrizzi's home to fetch it. The visit was confined simply to that. All three meetings fall within the scope of their work as Public Representatives. The information gathered was used in holding officials and the executive to account and all three meetings took place with the prior knowledge of the Party.
8. Is the DA investigating allegations of improper involvement with the Agrizzi family involving DA Members of Parliament as well as staff members?
   No. This is because there is no prima facie evidence to justify such an investigation.
9. How many other DA representatives, local and national and staff members, have visited the Agrizzi family at their homes or have business dealings with this family?
   None that we are aware of.
10. How are these DA investigations progressing into links with the Agrizzi family? If the DA is not investigating, please share with us – why not?
    See 8 above.

Kind regards

James Selfe MP, chairperson federal executive