Gavin Watson's family expresses frustration over delays in crash probe

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Durban - Almost six months after the death of former Bosasa chief executive, Gavin Watson, who was killed in a car crash near OR Tambo International Airport, his family has expressed frustration over the delays in investigating the matter. Watson death has remained one of the biggest mysteries. Before the crash, Watson was expected to shed more light regarding the company’s dealings before the state capture commission after the dealings were flagged as corrupt after testimony from for Bosasa boss Angelo Agrizzi. Agrizzi is the former chief operating officer of Bosasa. One of Watson's three children, Jared, told Independent Media that when he last spoke to the SAPS, he was told that the matter was not yet concluded. Among the outstanding matters is a toxicology report (tests that look for the presence of drugs in someone's system) which was to be conducted by the department of health with the results then being handed to the police.

“When I spoke to them they said the investigating officer is away on leave until March. However, even when he is back they told me that once they are done we have to wait for the senior state prosecutor to see the docket and then we can know the results. The senior state prosecutor will still have to go through the docket and decide whether they will prosecute or not,” Jared added.

Jared said their own team of experts which includes private investigators, among others, have their hands tied and are unable to do their own investigation which was ordered by the family.

“This is frustrating, it has been over six months now yet we have not been told what happened. They have not given us the cellphone records, no CCTV footage showing what happened, nothing. We cannot wait forever to get the truth,” Jared said while expressing their frustration regarding the delays.

Among the experts helping the family is Konrad Lotter, an accident reconstruction expert, who has already drawn a sketch of nine possibilities that could have led to the crash.

While the family awaits the accident report and a way forward, they are still going to face an insolvency inquiry.

News24 reported on Wednesday that the inquiry would be a closed process aimed at investigating the finances and any potential malfeasance by the company and its directors.

However, Jared said they have not received any summons or official notices about the reported process.

“I have no idea about that, we have not received any official information about it,” he said briefly when asked about the matter.

On the other side, the company is still pursuing Agrizzi for allegedly defrauding it using a network of bogus companies. The company is jointly pursuing Agrizzi with former chief financial officer (CFO) Andries Van Tonder whom they accuse of working together to steal R37.5 million between 2012 and 2017 while both were employed by the company.

Political Bureau