Faizel Patel, Radio Islam News – 23-10-2019
News24 editor-in-chief and author Adriaan Basson has told Radio Islam it took 13 years for him to piece together the puzzle of the Bosasa scandal.
In his new book titled ‘Blessed by Bosasa: Inside Gavin Watson’s State Capture Cult’, Basson traces the genesis and operations of the controversial company Bosasa.
Basson writes of how Watson and his brothers used the members of the African National Congress Women’s League (ANCWL) who included prominent leaders and struggle royalty to establish the company and get a head start on signing lucrative government contracts.
Some of the people drawn into the project, which landed Bosasa and the Watsons at least R12 billion in contracts, include former Speaker of the National Assembly Baleka Mbete, Defence Minister Nosiviwe Mapisa-Nqakula and Social Development Minister Lindiwe Zulu among others.
Basson says despite Watson’s untimely death, the public interest in the story is too important.
“I was shocked by it and I do feel sorry for his family about the way it happened and the fact that there is still no clarity on exactly what happened. But obviously, that couldn’t stop the story of this magnitude from being told. It’s overwhelmingly in the public interest that South Africa should know exactly how Bosasa happened.”
Basson says all Watson’s brother benefitted financially from Bosasa.
“It was definitely the family’s cash cow. When (Angelo) Agrizzi testified, at the Zondo Commission about how he left Bosasa, there was definitely efforts by all of the brothers to keep him in the company to being him back and to pay him millions of Rand to keep him in the company, because he was obviously part of the corrupt schemes of capturing state departments.”
Basson says he hopes from the stories he tells in the book, people can be aware of the dangers of a ‘strong man or demigod figure’ in companies controlling people with religion and fear and how dangerous that could be.
Listen to the interview with Adriaan Basson
0 Comments