He was due to appear in the Palm Ridge Magistrates Court on Wednesday over allegations he received R1.7m in bribes from EOH. From Moneyweb.
Sports, Arts and Culture Minister Zizi Kodwa resigned from his cabinet post after being charged in relation to bribes of R1.6 million received from JSE-listed tech company EOH.
News24 reports that he was arrested on Tuesday in relation to the charges.
Read: Zondo praises EOH for coming clean, but says it cannot keep the proceeds of corruption
Kodwa was cited in the Zondo state capture inquiry as the recipient of R1.68 million and a further R30 000 between February 2014 and April 2015. The money was paid over by former EOH executive Jehan Mackay.
Kodwa was formerly deputy minister of State Security before being appointed as minister of Sports, Arts and Culture.
At the time of the alleged bribes, Kodwa was an ANC spokesperson and employee.
He claimed that R1 million of the alleged bribe was a loan by Mackay for the purchase of a Jeep vehicle, though this reflected on EOH’s accounting system as a donation to the ANC, or to Kodwa himself.
EOH also paid hundreds of thousands of rands for luxury rental accommodation for Kodwa, according to the Zondo report. Kodwa testified that he was unaware of the rental accommodation and believed they belonged to Mackay.
Former EOH CEO Stephen van Coller testified before the Zondo Commission that one of the corrupt methods used by previous company management to secure work was through the use of politically connected go-betweens.
Kodwa admitted he was in financial difficulties at the time the payments were made, but denied they were for the procurement of government contracts by EOH or related companies.
Quid pro quo …
Mackay and Kodwa engaged regularly with each other in 2015 with the purpose of securing donations totalling several million rands on behalf of the ANC.
“Whatever the subjective intentions of Mr Kodwa, it is clear that Mr Jehan Mackay was attempting to buy influence by making the ‘loans’ that he made to Mr Kodwa and by providing Mr Kodwa with luxury accommodation,” says the Zondo report.
In July 2015, Mackay addressed an email to Kodwa after EOH had been disqualified from a R380 million public tender.
This was an apparent attempt to interfere in the procurement process in the interests of EOH.
Though the Zondo Commission said it had no evidence before it of impropriety on the part of Zodwa in the procurement process, it did not have sufficient time to properly investigate the matter.
Once Kodwa was elevated from ANC spokesperson to deputy minister for State Security, he would have been in a better position to influence ANC members.
He was beholden to Mackay to the tune of R1.7 million and admitted he was not in a position to repay the ‘loan’.
The Zondo Commission recommended that law enforcement agencies investigate Mackay’s attempts to induce Kodwa to interfere with the procurement process on behalf of EOH and for President Cyril Ramaphosa to consider Kodwa’s ministerial position in State Security. He was later shifted to Sports, Arts and Culture.
Resignation, denial
In a statement released by the Ministry of Sport, Arts and Culture, Kodwa announced his resignation while denying the charges against him.
“Mr Kodwa has informed the President that he will resign as Minister of Sport, Arts and Culture and Member of Cabinet, after being formally charged,” reads the statement.
“Mr Kodwa expresses his sincere appreciation to the President and the governing party for the opportunity to serve the nation.
“He also takes the opportunity to express thanks to all the staff at the Ministry and Department of Sport, Arts and Culture for the opportunity to serve with them, and to all stakeholders in Sport, Arts and Culture, with whom he has worked so well with as Minister.”
