JOHANNESBURG, SOUTH AFRICA – JANUARY 29: Former Bosasa Chief Operations Officer (COO) Angelo Agrizzi testifies at the commission of inquiry into state capture on January 29, 2019 in Johannesburg, South Africa. – Photo: Gallo Images / Netwerk24 / Felix Dlangamandla
JOHANNESBURG, SOUTH AFRICA – JANUARY 29: Former Bosasa Chief Operations Officer (COO) Angelo Agrizzi testifies at the commission of inquiry into state capture on January 29, 2019 in Johannesburg, South Africa. – Photo: Gallo Images / Netwerk24 / Felix Dlangamandla
Bosasa whistleblower and star witness to the state capture inquiry Angelo Agrizzi appeared at the Equality Court on Wednesday, to face charges of hate speech following his shocking use of the K-word.
How Angelo Agrizzi was outed as a racist
Earlier in the year, Agrizzi dropped a plethora of bombshells about the shady dealings of the security services company. He managed to implicate politicians, colleagues and fellow business professionals in the web of corruption, and he also candidly admitted his own misdemeanours.
After detailing the hundreds of millions of rand Bosasa spent on bribing their allies, Angelo Agrizzi’s last day of testimony proved to be one of the most eventful. A tape was played to the court where he referred to his former business partner Papa Leshabane by the K-word.
Agrizzi tried to negate the shock by openly admitting he had racist tendencies. As far as honesty goes, this guy isn’t afraid to say what’s on his mind. Even if those admissions are utterly abhorrent.
Hate speech charges
The former executive was soon slapped with hate speech charges, and he was made to face the music in Randburg on Wednesday. The case has been postponed until Thursday 27 June, but we may not even get that far. Both parties are hoping for an out-of-court settlement, and Agrizzi’s lawyer Daniel Witz explained their path forward:
“We now understand how it came about and how the complaint was laid. We’ll see whether or not we can work something out to settle this matter in terms of the rules. If there is a settlement it will most definitely be reduced to writing… We are not looking for any costs at all, we don’t want costs.”
Daniel Witz
What Angelo Agrizzi will have to pay for his K-word outburst
In terms of a settlement, it’s likely that Angelo Agrizzi will be hit in the depths of his pockets. Papers filed by the SA Human Rights Commission have demanded that the self-confessed racist must cough-up R200 000 for his indiscretions, and they also want him to undergo sensitivity training.
#AngeloAgrizzi’s case in the Equality Court is postponed until 27 June 2019. The parties will meet, likely in early June, to discuss a possible settlement of R200,000 and sensitivity training of Agrizzi as an alternative to going to trial.
— Erin Bates (@ermbates) May 29, 2019
