AGE OF ACCOUNTABILITY
Ailing former Bosasa COO Angelo Agrizzi’s chances of survival ‘less than 30-40%’, court told
Angelo Agrizzi, a former Bosasa company executive, was diagnosed with diabetes, hypertension, obesity, acute renal failure, and liver dysfunction by pulmonologist Dr Muhammad Chohan. Agrizzi is mechanically ventilated and sedated, but is conscious and on dialysis. According to the medical report, his chances of survival are less than 30-40%.
This report is part of Agrizzi’s legal team’s heads of arguments in an attempt to persuade the Pretoria High Court that he is medically unfit to stand trial.
Agrizzi’s lawyer Mannie Witz will use this information in arguments opposing the State’s application that Agrizzi’s absence from court proceedings since October 2020 has caused an unreasonable delay in the start of the trial.
Agrizzi’s health has deteriorated since he suffered a heart attack in October 2020. He was in intensive care at the Life Fourways Hospital until 7 December 2020.
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“It is clear that in view of his medical and health condition, together with the approximately 49 days that he spent in ICU until his discharge on 7 December, Agrizzi was in no medical or health condition to attend at court and on all subsequent occasions with the provision of medical confirmation provided to the State,” the defence said in court papers.
Read more in Daily Maverick: “Medical specialist to decide whether Agrizzi is fit to stand trial”
The applications brought by the State and to be heard in court are:
- In terms of section 67(2)b of the Criminal Procedure Act (CPA), which states that ‘if an accused satisfies the court that this failure was not due to a fault in his part, the provisional cancellation of the bail and the provisional forfeiture of the bail money shall lapse’.
- In terms of section 342a of the CPA which relates to unreasonable delay, ‘a court before which criminal proceedings are pending shall investigate any delay in completion of proceedings which appears to the court to be unreasonable and which could cause substantial prejudice to the prosecution, the accused or his or her legal adviser, the State or a witness’.
The purpose of the State’s application is for the court to determine whether Agrizzi’s health condition is delaying the proceedings and whether Agrizzi’s failure to appear was his fault, in view of his health.
Postponed indefinitely
The matter was set down for three days for arguments to be heard in two applications brought by the State against Agrizzi which moves the onus on Agrizzi to prove his unfitness to stand trial.
On Wednesday, the matter was postponed indefinitely after Judge David Makhoba ruled that the matter would require more time.
Agrizzi is accused of offering gratification to former ANC MP Vincent Smith arising from four contracts worth R1.8-billion awarded by the Department of Correctional Services to Bosasa and its subsidiaries.
Read more in Daily Maverick: “Angelo Agrizzi’s loan of over R600,000 to ANC MP Vincent Smith interrogated at State Capture inquiry”
Agrizzi and his co-accused, Andries van Tonder, the former chief financial officer of Bosasa; Linda Morris Mti, the former Correctional Services national commissioner; and Patrick Gillingham, a former Correctional Services employee, are named in a second litigation stemming from the allegedly irregular R1.8-billion tender.
The four contracts, awarded between 2004 and 2007, were for catering and training services, the installation of CCTV cameras and perimeter fencing, and the supply of a television system and monitoring equipment.
Agrizzi testified at the Zondo Commission on 23 January 2019, where he gave self-incriminating evidence and testified that he was aware of, and involved in, corruption throughout his time at Bosasa.
Read more in Daily Maverick: “ ‘Bosasa simply had no shame’ – Watson brothers’ company hammered in State Capture report”
Opposing
The defence contends that Agrizzi’s failure to appear in court was not intentional, but rather the result of his ill health. As a result, the defence is opposing the State’s applications. It wants the court to rule Agrizzi is medically incapable of standing trial.
Agrizzi’s lawyer Witz said that a meeting was held on 3 October 2022 between two pulmonologists, Dr Muhammad Chohan and Dr Emmanuel Taban, for the State. On 6 October 2022, both medical experts expressed the view that Agrizzi cannot attend court hearings in person.
The defence also obtained a medical report from a neurologist stating that Agrizzi is unfit to attend court.
The matter has been set down for 11 to 20 April. DM
on a point of order,”chances of survival” means absdolutely nothing unless you give a time frame. For all of us, the ultimate chance of survival is precisely 0%.
I find it bizarre that Aggrizzi did not get immunity for his Zondo Commission testimony which blew the lid off so much corruption and that, of all the people implicated by that monumentally expensive exercise, the one the prosecutors want to nail is the very ill whistle-blower. Seems par for the course!
Ron Ron. So true. All this effort expended on a self confessed crook while the other crooks swan around scot free. Of course – he is an easy target and chasing after him takes every bodies attention off the rest.
I also thought it was strange. He has to appear in court while some of Bosasa’s beneficiaries appear in cabinet. Weird.
Agreed Ron Ron.