Johannesburg - The Zondo commission has heard that former KwaZulu-Natal Hawks boss Johan Booysen had visited the Gupta compound in Saxonworld and met with Tony Gupta.
Booysen took the stand on Friday and told the commission how he had been driven to the infamous home in 2014 by Duduzane Zuma.
The General said he had previously met Zuma regarding a case the Hawks were investigating regarding a business deal that had gone bad between Zuma and another businessman.
Booysen detailed that he met Zuma twice and on a third occasion he was with his son, Eben when Zuma invited him to drive to a location.
He said he drove with Zuma in his Rolls Royce while his son drove behind them. He said Zuma drove into a property which he immediately recognized, from media reports, as the Gupta compound in Saxonworld.
He described the house as lavish and said as they entered the door they were asked to hand over their cellphones.
After they were led into a room and he was introduced to Tony Gupta. They exchanged pleasantries and thereafter Gupta told him that he knew that he may be appointed as the head of the Hawks.
“The conversation moved on to the possibility that I may be appointed as the head of the DPIC. I was surprised and somewhat shocked that Mr Gupta was privy to the fact that I have been shortlisted to become the head of the Hawks,” Booysen said.
Gupta commented that once Booysen is appointed he should come to join him for supper in Durban.
Booysen was adamant that there were no agreements between him and Gupta and the meeting ended with no promises.
“I want to make to be clear that he did not make any promises or create any expectations regarding my possible appointment. I did find it odd that he knew that I was a possible candidate for the post and secondly that the meeting had taken place. I certainly never solicited a meeting with the Guptas.
Booysen was not appointed as the head of the Hawks but Berning Ntlemeza was appointed.
He said he found Ntlemeza’s appointment odd as he had not taken part in the interviews held by the selection panel at the police minister’s office.
“He (Ntlemeza) also made a public statement at a national meeting in Polokwane that he had not applied for the post,” Booysen said.
The inquiry continues.