Cape Town - Former Bosasa chief operations officer and corruption accused Angelo Agrizzi on Friday implicated senior governing party Member of Parliament (MP) Cedrick Frolick in corruption, claiming he had received bribes.
Testifying in the commission of inquiry into state capture, Agrizzi said he was present at least twice when Frolick was handed "security bags", which he said could only contain cash. In return, Frolick would help Bosasa with among others, facilitating meetings with politicians who could provide political favours to the company.
Agrizzi said Bosasa boss Gavin Watson had told him Frolick was a long time friend of the family and would be key to turning politicians who had raised objections to Bosasa after a report by the Special Investigating Unit (SIU) found the company had bribed officials in return for lucrative contracts at government departments, including justice and correctional services.
Vincent Smith, the chairman of the justice and correctional services when the SIU report was completed in 2009, was the target of Bosasa's attempts through Frolick, to convince the "problematic" MP to work in Bosasa's favour, the former Bosasa COO said.
"At that stage, Vincent Smith was the thorn in the flesh. He would counter anything Bosasa would have done...he was [a] major concern. He was actually at that stage doing what was right," said Agrizzi.
He said he witnessed Watson returning from the vault room and place a "security bag", which he said could only contain cash, in Frolick's pocket when the MP visited the company's headquarters. Watson, he said, later told him Frolick would receive R40 000 a month.
"He said to me don't worry, he [Frolick] is 100 percent on board....he mentioned he'd been with the family for years, he dealt with Cheeky and he dealt with Valence as well."
Sometime after, said Agrizzi, he visited Parliament and was given a tour by Frolick who had also arranged a meeting with Smith, who at that stage was very "abrupt" during the engagement.
Watson also allegedly instructed Agrizzi to fly to Port Elizabeth and hand over a package to his brother, Valence Watson, who according to testimony was handed to Frolick.
Frolick is a House chairman in the National Assembly and all parliamentary portfolio committee chairpersons report to him.
During previous testimony by Agrizzi in January, he alleged Smith had eventually been persuaded to work with Bosasa in exchange for up to R100,000 a month in bribes.