 | |
| Company type | Facilities Management |
|---|---|
| Industry | Government contracting |
| Founded | 1981 |
| Defunct | 18 February 2019 |
| Fate | Voluntary liquidation |
| Headquarters | Krugersdorp,Mogale City Gauteng, South Africa |
Area served | South Africa |
Key people |
Papa Leshabane Sesinyi SeopelaRonnie WatsonJacqueline Leyds Thandi Makoko |
| Products | Business services,catering |
Number of employees | 3400 |
| Website | bosasaydc.com africanglobal.com |
Bosasa was a South African company specialising in providing services to government, most notably correctional services. It consisted of Bosasa Group, Bosasa Youth Development Centres, andAfrican Global Operations (formerly Bosasa Operations). The company was liquidated in 2019 after whistleblowerAngelo Agrizzi revealed the malfeasance in prolonged scandal about its allegedlycorrupt relationship with members of the governingAfrican National Congress (ANC), and Democratic Alliance (DA) aired during theZondo Commission of Inquiry.
The company was founded in 1981 as Emafini (Pty) Ltd. After a change of management the company changed its name to Meritum Hostels (Pty) Ltd in 1985 changing its name again to Dyambu Operations (Pty) Ltd in 1996 after signing an agreement with theANC Women's League controlled Dyambu Trust. Gavin Watson was then made company CEO. The company was renamed Bosasa 2000.[2]Gavin Watson bought Bosasa in the year 2000. Watson was well connected to ANC members such asLinda Mti, who was prisoners commissioner from 2001 to 2006.[3]
In 2017 the company changed the name of its Bosasa Operations division to African Global Operations.[4]
On 18 February 2019, the company announced that it would submit tovoluntary liquidation as banks intended to close its accounts by the end of the month. Bosasa said that, due to reputational damage arising from corruption allegations, it was unable to find a financial services provider.[5][6] Watson died in August 2019 in suspicious circumstances.[7]
Then known as Dyambu Operations, the company started providing services to prisons in 1995 when it established the Bosasa Youth Development Centres, a collection ofjuvenile detention facilities, in partnership with theGauteng Department of Social Development.[8] In 2004, the company received its first major government contract when theDepartment of Correctional Services appointed it to provide catering services to the prison system.[2] The company is estimated to have received government tenders to the value ofR12 billion ($918.8 million) between 2003 and 2018.[9] Among other things, it operated theLindela Repatriation Centre inKrugersdorp since 1996.[10]
Bosasa's state contracts had been subject to allegations of impropriety since the mid-2000s,[11][12][13] and they were investigated by theSpecial Investigating Unit between 2006 and 2009.[14][15] In August 2018, the company's former chief operating officer,Angelo Agrizzi, announced his intention to become awhistleblower and "provide comprehensive details" about "racketeering, corruption and money laundering that I have been aware of over the last 18 years" at Bosasa.[16] Over the next two years, Agrizzi testified at length to the Zondo Commission about Bosasa's relationship with ANC and government officials, which he characterised as deliberately corrupt. His account directly implicated PresidentJacob Zuma and his associates. Indeed, Agrizzi claimed that Bosasa made monthly payments of R300,000 to Zuma, collected on his behalf by formerSouth African Airways chairpersonDudu Myeni.[17]
Other politicians who allegedly received benefits from Bosasa includedCyril Ramaphosa, who reportedly received a R500,000 donation during his 2017 campaign for president of the ANC;[18][19] ministerNomvula Mokonyane, who Agrizzi said was paid R50,000 a month for years to protect the company from law enforcement agencies;[20] and ministerGwede Mantashe, who Agrizzi said received security upgrades at his properties.[21] Agrizzi also said that senior prosecutorsNomgcobo Jiba and Lawrence Mrwebi were bribed to protect Bosasa from prosecution.[3]
In addition,News24 reported that Bosasa had donated over R40 million to the ANC since the 1990s and that it was therefore a significant source of revenue for the party.[22]Babalo Madikizela, the treasurer of theEastern Cape ANC, said the Bosasa scandal will make it more difficult for the ANC to raise funds in the future.[23]
The scandal led to comparisons of Bosasa and its executives to the controversialGupta family.[24][25]
In March 2022, the Zondo Commission published its findings about Bosasa's role in state capture and corruption. The commission found that the company "bribed politicians, government officials, President Jacob Zuma and others extensively. Bosasa and its directors and other officials simply had no shame in engaging in acts of corruption".[26] It concluded that "the evidence revealed that corruption was Bosasa’s way of doing business."[26] Agrizzi, Linda Mti, and former MPVincent Smith were among those indicted on criminal charges relating to bribery by Bosasa.[27][28]
In March 2023, two of Bosasa's court-appointedliquidators, Cloete and Thomas Murray, were shot dead in a suspected assassination.[29][30] Freedom Under Law, a legal advocacy organisation, said that the shooting was likely linked to the Murrays' work tracing Bosasa's finances, comparing it with deaths of others investigating corruption such asCharl Kinnear andBabita Deokaran.[31]
{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: multiple names: authors list (link)The Zondo Commission's findings on Bosasa were published in four volumes in March 2022:
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