The President of South Africa, Cyril Ramaphosa has vowed to jail officials connected in an ongoing corruption inquiry following the arrest of five people, including a witness at a judicial inquiry into alleged influence peddling.
The five were charged with gross misappropriating of funds of about 1.6 billion rand which equals $44.5 million. The president has taken a quick action since about five western envoys which includes the United Kingdom and the United States of America threatened to cut foreign direct investment if no action was taken against perpetrators of corruption.
One of the five people arrested on charges of corruption and fraud is Mr Angelo Agrizzi, a former executive of a private company has confessed about the numerous ways he bribed politicians and bureaucrats to secure government contracts for his company. The spokesman for the Hawks police, Hangwani Mulaudzi, revealed that the arrests are a culmination of many years of investigations.
The five accused people appeared in a court in Pretoria and were each granted 20,000-rand bail. The case has been postponed to the March 27.Mr Mulauzi revealed that warrants have been issued for the arrest of two others. One is overseas and the other is in the coastal city of Port Elizabeth.