Riyaz Patel
ANC MP and former state security minister Bongani Bongo has been released on bail of R5 000 following his arrest in connection with corruption allegations.
The MP is accused of trying to disrupt a Parliamentary inquiry into state capture at power utility Eskom on October 10, 2017.
“Bongo, who was the Minister of State Security at the time, allegedly approached an advocate within the commission who was an evidence leader to take sick leave on the day of the commencement of the [inquiry] with a view to derail the proceedings,” Hawks spokesperson Brigadier Hangwani Mulaudzi said.
The advocate was allegedly “offered an open cheque bribe and he consequently alerted his seniors, which culminated in the Hawks investigation,” Mulaudzi added.
Bongo appeared briefly in The Cape Town Magistrate’s Court Thursday.
Part of his bail conditions is that he does not make contact with State witnesses, as well as giving the investigating officer two weeks’ notice if he plans to take an overseas trip, Mulaudzi said.
Earlier this year, Parliament’s joint ethics committee agreed to set up a subcommittee to look into charges of misconduct against him.
Bongo currently serves as a member of Parliament for the ANC and was elected as chair of Parliament’s home affairs committee in July.
This is not the only allegation hanging over Bongo – the Hawks also investigated him in relation to alleged corrupt land transactions when he was a legal advisor to the Mpumalanga provincial government, EWN reported.
The DA said Bongo’s arrest is encouraging.
President Cyril Ramaphosa fired Bongo from Cabinet in February last year but he remains an ANC MP.
The ANC Parliamentary Caucus issued a statement through the Office of the Chief Whip, saying while noting the MP’s arrest, they “will not comment on the allegations labeled against Cde Bongo as we want to allow the law to take its course.“
