Cape Town mayor Gerald Morkel has denied Jurgen Harksen’s claim that he had dealings with alleged Mafia kingpin Vito Palazzolo.
”Categorically no, I never ever had a meeting with him,” Morkel said on Wednesday at the venue in Cape Town where the Desai Commission is sitting.
Harksen told the commission on Tuesday that he intended making an affidavit on what he said were Morkel’s links with Palazzolo, but that he felt ”a bit uncomfortable” about giving open testimony
on the matter.
Morkel, who was attending the commission’s hearings for the first time on Wednesday, said he was ”here to watch”.
”It’s the first opportunity I’ve had to come along,” he said.
”But obviously if my senior advocate needs any clarification that’s what it’s all about.”
He repeated a denial he has made in past weeks that he ever had any dealings with Palazzolo.
”I have possibly seen him on a few occasions, but I never had a one-on-one meeting with him.”
Asked why he thought Harksen was making the claim, he said, ”God, why does he bring up all the other stuff? It’s just a part of his ongoing devious mind.”
Harksen, who faces multi-million rand fraud charges in South Africa and Germany, has claimed he donated more than a million rand to Morkel and the Democratic Alliance, which Morkel heads in the Western Cape.
Harksen’s cross examination by DA advocate Peter Hodes was due to resume at 10am on Wednesday, but had not started by 10.40am. –Sapa