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ANC chairperson and Minister of Mineral Resources Gwede Mantashe has accused one of the investigators of the state capture inquiry of lying under oath.
The investigator, Patrick Mlambo, earlier told inquiry chairperson, Deputy Chief Justice Raymond Zondo, that he received a call from Mantashe who was unhappy about a site visit to his property without his permission.
READ: 'I have had no dealings with Bosasa' - Gwede Mantashe
Mlambo said Mantashe indicated that he would fire his employee for giving permission for the inspection of his property in Elliot in the Eastern Cape.
"I was pleading with them (Mantashe and his wife) to say… please do not fire her," Mlambo told Zondo.
"Both of them had indicated that as a result of her allowing me and giving me access to the property, they are going to fire her or they have fired her," Mlambo said.
'Perjury'
But in an interview with News24 on Wednesday, Mantashe rubbished the claims.
"I think Mlambo deserves to be charged with perjury because he is lying under oath. I did not fire her. She is at home now, working. She has been working for me for eight years," Mantashe said.
"Mlambo told two wrong things. He went to my home in the villages, at Cala in the Eastern Cape. He found the gate locked and the small gate was locked and surrounded by fence, but he broke the fence and got in while there was nobody there [and] he does as he wishes.
"Ideally, that man should be charged with trespassing. He disrespected my property. He made an assumption that I am a convict. He treated my place like a prison cell. He can do as he wishes," Mantashe said.
He said Mlambo went to his farm in Elliot and "pretended" to his helper that he had been given permission to inspect the property.
"The lady allowed him in. He went through my house. I said to him: 'Mlambo, what you are doing is wrong in all books. That lady who allowed you in there deserves to be fired because if she allowed you in without checking with us, it means one day she will allow thugs to get into my house.'"
Mantashe also accused Mlambo of "exaggerating" during his testimony, saying he believes he is being attacked.
"Even the Bosasa thing is an attack on me. I am dragged in with people who have many things with Bosasa. I don't have many things from Bosasa. I don't have monthly retainers. I don't have anything with Bosasa. I will explain my cameras when I go to the commission.
"I think they are trying to discredit all of us. There is a concerted effort to mobilise against the ANC," Mantashe added.
Bribery
During his testimony, Mlambo described a phone call he received from someone who identified herself as Mrs Mantashe.
"She was really accusing me, and very strongly so, for having gone into her properties without her permission...
"I tried to inform her that the purpose of my visit was solely [for] investigation purposes, as well as the fact that I tried call the minister. But she would not hear anything of that nature. She actually went on and on, accusing me."
He told Zondo that he understood that she was upset.
"At some instance, I remember saying to her: 'Ma'am, please allow me an opportunity to say what I want to say,' and she told me that she would not listen to anything that I wanted to say."
Former chief operating officer turned whistleblower Angelo Agrizzi previously told the commission that security upgrades at three of the homes belonging to Mantashe were valued at a massive R650 000, according to his estimates.
"Chair, the payments were covered up in cash, but I would estimate that an installation of that size would be R650 000 on all three sites," Agrizzi said.
Bosasa, now known as African Global Operations, allegedly bribed top ANC leaders in exchange for lucrative government tenders.
Agrizzi remained adamant that Bosasa paid for the installations at Mantashe's properties.
"Without a shadow of doubt, all of those installations were paid for by Bosasa and not a director, as alluded to," he said.
The identity of the director he mentioned was not clarified. Mantashe previously rejected Agrizzi's claims, saying he had "no dealings with Bosasa".
In February, Mantashe went as far as inviting journalists on a tour of his homes in Boksburg, Gauteng, as well as Cala and Elliot in the Eastern Cape. His aim was to point out that there was no electric fencing - just the cameras, which for he paid nothing.
Neither, it turns out, did the ANC (which was in charge of his security at the time), News24 earlier reported.
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