Millionaire Italian developer Count Riccardo Agusta doled out donation cheques to senior New National Party (NNP) members in the Western Cape government after they intervened on his behalf in the Roodefontein development, the Bellville Regional Court heard on Tuesday.
This was in testimony from former Western Cape environment and development planning provincial minister David Malatsi. He has taken the stand in his own defence in a trial in which he and former provincial premier Peter Marais are charged with corruption.
They are alleged to have accepted R400 000 from Agusta — who himself pleaded guilty to corruption in 2003 — in donations to the NNP to smooth the approval process for the planned R500-million Roodefontein golf estate at Plettenberg Bay.
Malatsi said that on April 17 2002 he and his environment department official charged with making the Roodefontein decision, Ingrid Coetzee, were summoned to a meeting at Marais’ office, at which representatives of Agusta were also present.
After the developers, who had complained the department had been shifting the goal posts in the approval process, presented their grievances, Coetzee was given a chance to respond.
She said the Roodefontein application was procedurally flawed, and could not be entertained, Malatsi said. She said the application had been submitted in a photocopied form, not as an original, and that the developers had submitted an environmental report before the required scoping report.
Marais had described her reasons as ”poppycock” although later, under cross examination, Malatsi conceded that the premier might not have used that word, and said he had expected to hear substantive issues, not administrative red tape.
He had told Malatsi he wanted a decision ”even if it means making a political decision”, and Malatsi promised him one by April 19, a Friday.
He himself had believed that the department was following ”a typical obstructionist approach” in the matter.
On the Friday, Malatsi said, he received a phone call from Agusta, who asked him to come out to Franschhoek.
Malatsi said that when he arrived, Agusta was with Vito Palazzolo, the Mafia boss who last week was convicted in absentia by an Italian court on Mafia-related charges and sentenced to nine years’ jail time.
Agusta made some small talk, then took Malatsi into a study and said he wanted to give him a donation. ”I said you don’t have to pay me for doing my job,” Malatsi told the court.
”He said, ‘I’ve already given to Peter and the party, I want to give to you as well’.”
After thinking for a few moments, Malatsi told Agusta he could give the money to the NNP’s Khayelitsha constituency office, of which he, Malatsi, was in charge.
Agusta wrote out a cheque for R100 000 and gave it to him. Malatsi said he deposited the money in the Khayelitsha account some days later.
The two men went back to where Palazzolo was, and Agusta asked Malatsi why the government and prosecutions chief Bulelani Ngcuka were harassing Palazzolo, who he called ”my friend”.
Palazzolo explained that he was facing a charge related to having forged a signature on his application to enter South Africa.
”I said I would ask Mr Ngcuka if there was anything he needed to do,” Malatsi told the court.
When he returned to his office, he ordered that Coetzee be stripped of her delegated authority to issue formal records of decision on developments, and that it be assigned to her superiors in the department instead.
The record of decision, which in essence allowed the development to go ahead subject to certain conditions, was issued on May 6. Malatsi also told the court that NNP members of the provincial executive had been set a fundraising target of R50 000 each for the party.
He said other provincial ministers would come to his personal assistant, Marianne Meyer, to identify potential donors among the developers applying for approval for projects.
Meyer also had to identify developers she could refer to the premier’s office from whom donations could be received. Malatsi said he himself had attended meetings at which funds were solicited for the party from developers while their applications were still pending.
Questioned by prosecutor Bruce Morrison about a three-day, tape-recorded interview with Scorpions investigators in April 2003, Malatsi said his advocate, Pete Mihalik, had told him that if he gave the Scorpions everything they wanted, they would drop the charges against him.
During the interview, Mihalik had interjected and led him to admit to certain words that were in fact not used, to say that the donations were ”inducements” to make a decision on Roodefontein when they were not, and that he had been pressured, presumably by Marais, when he was in fact not.
He said the taping was stopped repeatedly ”13 times in all”, when Mihalik would tell him: ”You are not saying what you are supposed to do”, and would go off and caucus with the investigators.
Malatsi said he was questioned by the Scorpions about other meetings with Palazzolo. ”Socialising with someone is not a crime,” he told the court.
The case continues on Wednesday. — Sapa