Durban - Former KwaZulu-Natal Hawks boss Johan Booysen who began testifying in the Mokgoro Inquiry on Monday did not hold back when he told the commission the reasons for why he was arrested and later charged with charges of racketeering.
The now retired policeman pointed the finger at Edward Zuma is the son of former president Jacob Zuma and businessman, Thoshan Panday and suspended national director of public prosecutions Nomgcobo Jiba.
The Mokgoro Inquiry, led by retired Constitutional Court Judge Yvonne Mokgoro is tasked with probing the fitness of Jiba and the head of Special Commercial Crime Unit (SCCU), Advocate Lawrence Mrwebi, to hold office in the National Prosecuting Authority (NPA).
Here are 7 bombshells Booysen dropped at the inquiry:
1)
In his testimony, Booysen told the inquiry that his legal troubles with Jiba began in August 2012 after he turned down a request made to him by Edward Zuma that he allow the police treasury to release an outstanding R15 million payment which was owed to Panday.
2)
Booysen said Panday was irregularly awarded a contract of R60 million by the police to provide accommodation for the 2010 Soccer World Cup. He said at the time of his investigations, R45m had already been paid out to Panday and R15m was outstanding.
3)
A man claiming to be President Zuma’s brother made several calls to Booysen’s secretary seeking a meeting with him. When Booysen finally agreed to meet with him, it turned out to be Zuma's son Edward who asked him to release R15m outstanding funds that Booysen had freezed.
4)
Edward Zuma told Booysen that he was a silent partner in Panday’s company and that he had invested R900 000 in the company.
5)
In his sworn statement, Booysen made it clear that the motive behind the charges was to block his investigations into the multimillion-rand corruption case against Panday.
6)
Booysen told the inquiry that before his arrest, various attempts were made to bribe him: “Various attempts were made to frustrate and stop the investigations. At one stage I was summoned to the office of the Provincial Commissioner of Police, Mmamonnye Ngobeni, in the presence of the accused (Thoshan Panday). The police commissioner asked me to stop the investigations into the matter,” Booysen said.
7)
Booysen said the charges against him were politically motivated and were an attempt to block investigations into the Panday case and corruption charges against two former ANC MECs, Mike Mabuyakhulu and Peggy Nkonyeni.