Johannesburg - Late Bosasa boss Gavin Watson was to be served with a notice to give the ongoing state capture commission of inquiry his version on alleged corruption involving the company and senior politicians.
Commission chairman deputy chief justice Raymond Zondo said he had issued a directive as per commission rules to be served on Watson, but this had yet to be done when he died on Monday.
"The ... directive was not one that required him to appear before the commission yet. The directive required him to furnish an affidavit relating to the statement by (former Bosasa chief operations officer Angelo) Agrizzi," Zondo said before commencing Wednesday's proceedings.
"Attempts were being made for the directive to be served on Watson ... The directive had not yet been served at the time of his passing."
The businessman was killed in a single-car accident outside the OR Tambo International Airport in Johannesburg. The 73-year-old CEO of Bosasa, now known as African Global Operations, was alone in the vehicle when it crashed against a bridge pillar.
Agrizzi gave damning testimony before the commission, alleging that Watson was the mastermind behind Bosasa's dodgy contracts with government worth billions of rands.
Politicians and heads of prisons were provided with free state of the art security systems at their properties, courtesy of Bosasa.
The former COO, who said he decided to come clean and reveal all, said he was tasked with organising bribes in cash for former president Jacob Zuma, Cartier pens, a Louis Vuitton bag stuffed with banknotes for former South African Airways board chairwoman Dudu Myeni, and in the case of ex-minister Nomvula Mokonyane, huge orders of food and drinks for Christmas.
The commission is this week hearing evidence from former Free State member of the executive council for economic development Mxolisi Dukwana. He is testifying on the "asbestos heist", a project by the province's human settlement department to eradicate asbestos roofs in the province.
Dukwana alleges that money was instead siphoned off from the provincial government at the request of former premier Ace Magashule.
In his book 'Gangster State: Unravelling Ace Magashule's Web of Culture', journalist Pieter-Louis Myburgh details the asbestos project and Magashule’s alleged involvement in it.