South African senior lawmaker and former security minister, Bongani Bongo has on Thursday been arrested over corruption charges by the country’s elite police, making it the first high profile arrest. According to AFP, Bongo,
an ally of former president Jacob Zuma is accused of offering a bribe to a lawyer, Nthutuzela Vanara, who was building the state’s case in a 2017 parliamentary inquiry into the troubled state-owned power utility Eskom.
“The charges are that he offered money to (an) advocate… which (the prosecutor) refused, that is the charge of corruption that we have against him now,” prosecutions spokesman Eric Ntabazalila told state broadcaster SABC in Cape Town.
The lawmaker appeared before a magistrate court and was released on bail of 5,000 rand (306 euros, $340), but was ordered to return on January 31, 2020.
Zuma appointed Bongo as State Security Minister and was removed four months after, following a cabinet reshuffle.
During the Zuma Government, state-owned companies were the focal point of corruption scandals known as “state capture”.
Anti-graft watchdog Corruption Watch has commended the arrest, saying it shows the determination and commitment of President Cyril Ramaphosa’s administration to tackle corruption in the country.
“The fact that a high-profile political figure like Bongo has been arrested is very encouraging,” Corruption Watch Executive, David Lewis told AFP.
“There is determination on the part of the law enforcement basically to start enforcing the law,” he said.
