State capture report

Former Bosasa COO Angelo Agrizzi during his appearance at the commission of inquiry into state capture on October 09, 2019 in Johannesburg, South Africa. Agrizzi was expected to be cross-examined by former Armscor chief executive officer Kevin Wakeford when proceedings were postponed in relation to information contained in files held by curators of Bosasa, which has not been made available to the commission. Image: Dlangamandla/Netwerk24/Gallo Images via Getty Images.

Risky business: Agrizzi’s tell-all sequel will give some sleepless nights

Angelo Agrizzi’s follow-up memoir, ‘Surviving The Beast’, which will be released tomorrow, uncovers what really happens to those who expose the powerful and corrupt.

State capture report

Former Bosasa COO Angelo Agrizzi during his appearance at the commission of inquiry into state capture on October 09, 2019 in Johannesburg, South Africa. Agrizzi was expected to be cross-examined by former Armscor chief executive officer Kevin Wakeford when proceedings were postponed in relation to information contained in files held by curators of Bosasa, which has not been made available to the commission. Image: Dlangamandla/Netwerk24/Gallo Images via Getty Images.

The sequel to former Bosasa COO Angelo Agrizzi’s bestseller book might give some people sleepless nights before it’s release on Friday 1 October 2021.

Agrizzi sequel:Surviving The Beast – The Ugly Truths About State Capture and Why They Tried to Kill Me’

Surviving The Beast – The Ugly Truths About State Capture and Why They Tried to Kill Me, is a sequel to Agrizzi’s bestseller, Inside the Belly of the Beast – The Real Bosasa Story and will detail the events that transpired after the whistleblower was prepared to spill the beans on extensive corporate capture of the state and massive graft at Bosasa before the Commission of Inquiry into State Capture.

Surviving the Beast: The Ugly Truths About State Capture and Why They Tried to Kill Me
Image: angusrobertson.com.au/

According to Eric Nakif from The Citizen, Agrizzi received various death threats after blowing the whistle on top-level corruption involving ANC top guns and their corrupt Bosasa business allies. Agrizzi was also poisoned but he survived.

“Substantiated by irrefutable proof, medical records and key witness statements, Surviving The Beast uncovers what really happens to those who expose the powerful and corrupt,” writes Nakif.

New shock revelations in ‘Surviving the Beast’

In the new book, Agrizzi relates the story or the drama of his near fate when, on 14 October 2020, he left home at 06:00 to attend a routine bail court hearing at the Palm Ridge Magistrate’s Court.

He was reportedly surprised to be taken to court in an armoured vehicle and escorted by between 10 and 15 blue light vehicles – for his own “protection” as he was told.

He was shocked when the court denied him bail on the unfounded basis that he posed a flight risk. His first publisher decided to pull the book that was expected to come out the same day.

Compelling memoir of one man’s victory over death

Surviving The Beast ultimately exposes the involvement of those in the highest echelons of power in dirty tricks, corruption, boardroom assassinations, lies, deceit and cover-ups. There are murders and the swopping of bodies. It is also a compelling memoir of one man’s victory over death.

Agrizzi is described as a “great storyteller” who will “entertain you with his command of English”.

In the book, he paints a mental picture about the dramatic armed escort drive to the Palm Ridge Magistrate’s Court, then to Sun City prison and, lastly, to hospital.

“My lungs felt like they had taken a beating…” he writes. “It was as if he [the driver] had been briefed to purposefully drive recklessly to instil fear in me. It was as though he had been told to literally shake me up.”

Angelo Agrizzi court bail
Image: Flickr

From court, he was driven to prison with his own oxygen bottle.

“While in the filthy, overcrowded cell, he discovered that his oxygen bottle was swopped for a faulty prison issue one of poor quality. He believes this is how he was poisoned. He was rushed to Chris Hani Baragwanath Academic Hospital in Soweto, where he was in ICU for 52 days.”

Direct threat by Bosasa officials

This experience reminded him of a threat made directly against him during a Bosasa meeting in 2017.

Two Bosasa officials said they told a particular lawyer to “tell Angelo not to mess with us. Things can happen – prisoners can be used, cells are opened up…”