South Africa Widens Corruption Crackdown, Charging Key Figures

(Bloomberg) -- South African authorities indicted two key figures in a widening operation against people suspected of being involved in state corruption.

Prosecutors filed charges of corruption at the High Court in Johannesburg against Angelo Agrizzi, a former executive at services company Bosasa, and Vincent Smith, a senior politician in the ruling African National Congress. Agrizzi has testified before a judicial commission that Bosasa paid bribes to win government contracts.

The arrests come after President Cyril Ramaphosa pledged to crack down on corruption, a key concern of investors and business. Graft became endemic during the rule of former President Jacob Zuma, who Ramaphosa replaced in 2018. The government estimates more than 500 billion rand ($30 billion) was stolen from its coffers during Zuma’s nine-year tenure, but no one has been successfully prosecuted so far.

Smith, who chaired a parliamentary committee on prisons, appeared in court Thursday and was released on 30,000 rand bail. He’s scheduled to appear in court again on Oct. 14. Agrizzi didn’t appear in court for medical reasons, the National Prosecuting Authority said in a statement.

Thursday’s indictments follow the arrest of at least seven suspects on Wednesday in a separate investigation into the theft of more than 200 million rand from the state housing department in Free State province. They face charges including fraud, money laundering and contravention of the Public Finance Management Act, the police said in a statement.

The arrests of government officials in the Free State are politically important. The province has long been a nexus of corruption and political power within ANC and the party’s secretary-general, Ace Magashule, is a former premier of the region and is Ramaphosa’s biggest political rival.

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