Bosasa, the facilities company under the spotlight amid allegations that it bribed government officials to win state contracts worth billions of rand, will close after commercial banks pulled the plug on its accounts. The company, which is now known as African Global Operations, said that it had received formal notification from its financial institutions, which wanted to distance themselves from the scandal-hit group. It would close its accounts by the end of February. The company said more than 4,500 employees would lose their jobs, and it had more than 100 unemployed black youths on learnerships and internships. Bosasa found itself embroiled in allegations of state capture when its former COO, Angelo Agrizzi, testified to the Zondo commission on corruption and bribes relating to the company’s contracts with the government. Agrizzi was Bosasa CEO Gavin Watson’s right-hand man.

He told the commission that every government contract the company had received involved bribery and...

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