Supply chain staff ‘tainted’

PROCUREMENT and supply chain procedures in South Africa have been manipulated to such an extent that it has tainted those involved in the processes, the Commission of Inquiry into state capture inquiry heard yesterday.

Former procurement head at the Passenger Rail Agency of SA, Mbulelo Gingcana, told Deputy Chief Justice Raymond Zondo that it was “very unfortunate” that supply chain and procurement procedures were being manipulated in the country.

He told the commission that this resulted in the assumption that if someone was involved in supply chain management, they must be getting a kickback of some sort.

“I am a supply chain professional. I have 30 years of experience in this game and have been involved in these big, very complicated supply chain transactions. It must not be misconstrued that when somebody is doing his personal work at home, it is assumed that since they are in supply chain, they must be getting a kickback of some nature,” Gingcana said.

“I have never ever been bribed. I'm not corruptable. I am a professional in this field. That's why I was seconded to these areas of expertise. I had to lose my job because of an allegation,” he said.

Gingcana was implicated by Bosasa's former head of special operations Richard le Roux, who said security upgrades done at his home were funded by Bosasa to ensure the company enjoyed preference in contracts.

Gingcana conceded that security upgrades at his home were done via his friend Syvion Dhlamini, who was a director at Bosasa.

However, he denied that any impropriety was conducted on his part, saying that, to date, he was still awaiting an invoice for the work done in 2016.

He said he was always willing to pay for the upgrades.

Le Roux said he was responsible for maintaining security equipment at Bosasa's head office, and because of his duty, he was often tasked to install security systems which were labelled “Special Projects”.

He alleged that security equipment at Gingcana’s residence cost approximately R239 486 and that the cost was incurred by Bosasa.

However, Gingcana disputed this and told the commission that he was advised by Dhlamini that the upgrades would cost about R50 000.

He said he told Dhlamini that he would pay for the upgrades in September 2016 when he received his bonus, but he had not received any invoice despite requesting it multiple times.

Former Bosasa boss Angelo Agrizzi appeared before the commission via video call in the evening and was cross-examined by businessman Kevin Wakeford’s legal team.

Wakeford was implicated by Agrizzi when he told the commission that Wakeford was a Bosasa beneficiary.

Agrizzi stood by his previous evidence that Wakeford, who was a consultant to Bosasa for about eight years, allegedly received R100 000 a month for helping Bosasa “resolve” its issues with the SA Revenue Service.

Advocate Reg Willies asked Agrizzi if there was a possibility that all the evidence he had given both orally and in affidavits with regard to Wakeford could have contained mistakes or “maybe (he) remembered incorrectly”.

Agrizzi said he may have had incorrectly referred to dates or times but the context of his evidence was true.

“Mr Agrizzi you have made very serious allegations against someone. It doesn’t help to say ‘I can’t remember”. You must remember. You must realise this man is not about to let up until he proves his innocence,” Willies said.