Johannesburg – In his new book titled ‘Surviving the Beast’, the former Bosasa boss compares the ANC heavyweight to the legendary Queen of France, Marie Antionette.
This is a condensed extract from the book.
“Legend has it that Marie Antionette, Queen of France during the French Revolution of 1789, is so oblivious to the plight of the starving peasants that she suggests that they eat cake when she addresses the rioting masses.”
Although there is no proof that she actually said that, in many ways, this out-of-touch and callous suggestion is no different to what we see in South African politics today. Politicians appear to be fixated on their own greed that they have totally lost touch with what the millions of suffering people in this country need.
And sadly, Nomvula Mokonyane, who was once a true champion for the people, has shown remarkably similar traits to the French Queen who met her end with her neck under a guillotine.
“I have submitted evidence to the State Capture Commission that I had been instructed to organise her party, which was to have a theme called, “break a leg”, and so Advocate Notshe questioned Nomvula Mokonyane around these details.
“She looked visibly flustered as she answered that she had never been to the Victorian Guest Lodge for a party for herself and had no idea what a “break-a-leg-themed” party was.
“Interestingly, when the evidence leader commenced the cross-questioning, a very vocal Nomvula Mokonyane openly stated that Bosasa had never sponsored her fiftieth birthday party. When asked to confirm if she had received any sponsorships, she vehemently denied having had any financial benefit of any sort from either Gavin Watson or Bosasa.”
“The following day, on the morning of the 25th of August 2020, I received a call from my brother, Claudio. “I hope you are going to watch the Commission today. I hear it’s going to be jam-packed.”
“I sat down to watch this new witness and at first the name Frederick Coetzee didn’t ring a bell. Then it all became clearer. We had met at the Victorian Guest Lodge when, as I testified, Bosasa had organized the function for Nomvula Mokonyane and her hundred and seventy-four guests. Coetzee, the owner of the guesthouse, confirmed that the theme was indeed a “break-a-leg” party.
“After his affidavit was made known to Mokonyane, she responded with a striking rebuttal, laced in denials but also confused by certain admissions. Suddenly, almost miraculously, she now recalled that she had in fact had a birthday party at the Victorian Guest Lodge, but according to her, it wasn’t “a big affair” and quite simply, it was a “small dinner surprise”.
A seemingly small and intimate gathering with one hundred and seventy-odd guests?
“However, the jog in memory couldn’t remind her who paid for it, but according to her, she was sure “Angelo Agrizzi” and “Gavin Watson” were not there.
“The truth is that I was in fact at the function. Gavin Watson had insisted that I attend.
“Just before I left, I spent time with Serge Mokonyane at the main table. There we arranged that I would meet him at a gold driving range the following week to discuss an opportunity he had mentioned to me regarding some raw products for use on the mines that Bosasa catered for.”
“The driving range was a convenient place to meet as I would often drive from Randfontein Estates Mining’s Doornkop section, also known as Cooke 4 shaft, one of the facilities we managed, and from there I would usually go past Moses Fruit & Veg warehouse, a large supplier which supplied processed vegetables, where I would discuss any supply chain requirements with the owners.”
“Driving back to the office before the Leratong intersection, I would then pass a quaint driving range and often see Serge Mokonyane’s dark blue Mercedes parked on the side, where Serge could be seen practicing his golf swing. Often, I would stop and have a quick chat with him.
“Our relationship had progressed to the point where he approached me to facilitate a meeting with my brother in terms of power generation units. So yes, I was definitely at Nomvula’s party and yes, Nomvula definitely knew I was there.”
“Nomvula Mokonyane ended her litany of denials by saying that, from a legal point of view, she couldn’t dispute that those services were, in fact, provided by Bosasa.”
• ‘Surviving the Beast’ will be launched next week.
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