From struggle hero to king of murky deals

For most of his adult life Gavin Watson – who died in a car crash on Monday – has been in the news.

He and his brothers – Valence, Ronnie and Cheeky – were once hailed as heroes in the struggle for freedom and were famously ostracised, vilified, threatened and shot at.

Former friends shunned and abandoned them, all because of their nonracial beliefs.

The Watsons, who had lived on a farm in Somerset East and attended Graeme College in Grahamstown, first entered the public consciousness back in the 1980s, when “Cheeky” Watson, a formidable rugby player, created a furore by deciding to play with black South Africans – turning down his opportunity to join the Springboks.

The sacrifice made him a local hero.

But, over the past decade or so, the media attention became increasingly negative as rumblings over corruption at Gavin Watson’s company, Bosasa – now known as African Global – grew louder.

In 2009, the Special Investigating Unit handed over a report to the National Prosecuting Authority on four Bosasa contracts with the department of correctional services.

Though the SIU said in its report that Bosasa – and Watson – had allegedly bribed former commissioner Linda Mti and department CFO Patrick Gillingham, there has been no prosecution since the handing over of the report.

Ten years after the SIU report was completed, Bosasa and Watson would once again come up – this time at the commission of inquiry into state capture.

Earlier in 2019, former Bosasa COO Angelo Agrizzi testified extensively about corruption and bribes relating to the company’s contracts with the government.

He told the inquiry chaired by deputy chief justice Raymond Zondo that every contract between the state and Bosasa was tainted by bribery and corruption.

Agrizzi said Bosasa had bribed senior officials from the department of correctional services to secure lucrative contracts at prisons across SA. He showed the inquiry a video of alleged bribe money being moved into Watson’s vault.

In January, Agrizzi alleged further that keeping corruption under wraps at Bosasa was a family affair for the Watsons, with Watson allegedly insisting that his brothers enter “an unbreakable pact” – with any “problem child” to be dealt with by his high-ranking contacts in the government.

Offers of money, shareholdings and more power were made to ensure Agrizzi – and his secrets – stayed within the company, he claimed.

Agrizzi also detailed how all three of Watson’s brothers allegedly approached him to stop him leaving the company and leaking damning secrets.

According to other allegations at the ongoing judicial probe, monthly bribes were dished out to former president Jacob Zuma and some top state officials in exchange for lucrative government tenders.

Agrizzi told the inquiry that on one occasion Watson went to Zuma’s private home to personally deliver the money.

“He [Watson] said he personally delivered it to Jacob Zuma, put the bag next to him,” Agrizzi said.

The inquiry is investigating a web of murky deals involving officials, the Gupta family and state-owned entities during Zuma’s nine-year tenure. - Additional reporting AFP