Zizi Kodwa has resigned as sport, arts and culture minister after appearing in court on charges of corruption.
Kodwa said his immediate resignation would allow him to challenge the charges against him, which he strongly denies.
Kodwa and Jehan Mackay, the director of Tactical Software Systems (TSS) and former senior executive of Enterprise Outsourcing Holdings (EOH), appeared at the Johannesburg Specialised Commercial Crime Court sitting at the Palm Ridge magistrate’s court on Wednesday.
They have each been granted bail of R30 000.
State capture task team
Kodwa and Mackay handed themselves over at Bramley police station on Wednesday morning to the Hawks’ multi-disciplinary state capture task team after warrants for their arrests were issued on Tuesday.
They face charges of contravention of the Prevention and Combating of Corrupt Activities Act and corruption.
During the court proceedings, state prosecutor Neville Mogagabe said the state was not opposing the pair’s bail applications.
Kodwa is the second accused, and Zola Majavu is representing him. Mackay is the first accused, and Ian Small-Smith is his attorney.
Kodwa’s wife, Zama Kodwa, was seated in the gallery when the ANC bigwig appeared in court.
Strict conditions attached to bail
Magistrate Sharon Soko-Rantao granted bail with strict conditions, including that Kodwa and Mackay should attend every court session until the case is finalised.
Should they fail to attend a court session, a warrant of arrest would be issued, and the bail would be cancelled and forfeited to the state.
Soko-Rantao said their personal passports should be handed over to the investigating officer, who will keep the documents until the case is finalised.
She also barred them from making contact with state witnesses. The matter was postponed to July 23 for the disclosure of the contents of the docket to the accused’s lawyers by the state.
The National Prosecuting Authority’s regional spokesperson, Phindi Mjonondwane, said the alleged corruption took place between 2015 and 2016.
She said during the period from April 2015 to February 2016, when Kodwa was employed as the national spokesperson of the ANC, he received direct payments and luxury accommodation worth over R1.6-million.
According to the allegations, Mackay made the payments and/or helped to facilitate them in exchange for Kodwa’s interventions in government procurement procedures to advance the interests of Mackay, TSS, and EOH.
Raymond Zondo’s recommendations
Mjonondwane said: “In February 2015, the State Information Technology Agency [Sita], a state-owned company charged with the responsibility of IT [information technology] services to the government, advertised a tender worth R360-million for the appointment of two separate service providers for the provision of a platinum access service solution for the government for five years as Sita could not render the said service.
“Nine companies, including EOH, were shortlisted for the tender, and communication between the two accused suggests that EOH was disqualified, and Mackay then approached Kodwa for his intervention, which allegedly resulted in the tender being cancelled.”
She said the case stems from the recommendations penned by Chief Justice Raymond Zondo in Part 4 of his reports into allegations of state capture.
“Zondo had presided over the Judicial Commission of Inquiry into State Capture and, upon conclusion of its work, recommended that law-enforcement agencies should investigate attempts by Mackay to induce Kodwa to interfere with procurement processes and that President Cyril Ramaphosa should consider the position of Kodwa as deputy minister of state security because of his tainted relationship with Mackay,” said Mjonondwane.
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