Share

Armscor CEO granted special leave to prepare for state capture inquiry

Armaments Corporation of South Africa (Armscor) CEO Kevin Wakeford has been granted special leave following revelations at the state capture commission of inquiry.

Armscor, the acquisition agency for the Department of Defence, said on Monday that the board decided to grant the request from Wakeford, who became CEO in 2015, "until further notice".

"In the light of the latest media developments where the CEO of Armscor, Mr Kevin Wakeford's name was mentioned in the list of individuals who are said to have benefited from the Bosasa Group, and subsequent confirmation with the commission of inquiry into state capture, the CEO has requested special leave," the company said in a statement on Monday afternoon.

"This is in order to allow him time to prepare his evidence for the commission," it said.

Armscor confirmed in the statement that it had not done any work for and had no known commercial contract with Bosasa, now known as African Global Corporations.

The board will meet in due course to finalise the interim arrangements.

Bosasa former chief operations officer Angelo Agrizzi has been giving explosive evidence at the commission since the hearings resumed in 2019.

In an IOL report on Sunday, Defence Minister Nosiviwe Mapisa-Nqakula admitted that she was one of the founders of Dyambu Holdings, which later became Bosasa, but said that she had never received any dividends. 

According to the report, her spokesperson Joy Peter said the minister had declared her directorship in Parliament's Register of Members' Interests.

The report also claimed that Bosasa boss Gavin Watson who, based on Agrizzi's testimony, emerged as the "kingpin of bribes", apparently showered the SA Post Office's former chief executive, Maanda Manyatshe, and former head of security, Siviwe Mapisa, with expensive gifts including luxury pens, cufflinks and fake watches.

Siviwe Mapisa is Mapisa-Nqakula's brother.

The publication claimed it obtained documents which showed that Mapisa had a trust which was registered in 2007 of which Wakeford and Watson's brother, Valence Watson, were trustees.

KEEP UPDATED on the latest news by subscribing to our FREE newsletter.

- FOLLOW News24 on Twitter

We live in a world where facts and fiction get blurred
Who we choose to trust can have a profound impact on our lives. Join thousands of devoted South Africans who look to News24 to bring them news they can trust every day. As we celebrate 25 years, become a News24 subscriber as we strive to keep you informed, inspired and empowered.
Join News24 today
heading
description
username
Show Comments ()
Voting Booth
Do you think corruption-accused National Assembly Speaker Nosiviwe Mapisa-Nqakula will survive a motion of no confidence against her?
Please select an option Oops! Something went wrong, please try again later.
Results
No, her days are numbered
41% - 429 votes
Yes, the ANC caucus will protect her
59% - 614 votes
Vote
Rand - Dollar
18.95
-0.1%
Rand - Pound
23.91
-0.0%
Rand - Euro
20.42
+0.1%
Rand - Aus dollar
12.34
+0.0%
Rand - Yen
0.13
-0.1%
Platinum
908.05
+1.2%
Palladium
1,014.94
+1.3%
Gold
2,232.75
-0.0%
Silver
24.95
-0.1%
Brent Crude
87.00
+1.8%
Top 40
68,346
0.0%
All Share
74,536
0.0%
Resource 10
57,251
0.0%
Industrial 25
103,936
0.0%
Financial 15
16,502
0.0%
All JSE data delayed by at least 15 minutes Iress logo
Editorial feedback and complaints

Contact the public editor with feedback for our journalists, complaints, queries or suggestions about articles on News24.

LEARN MORE